NCD deaths up – slightly up but still up

It’s official NCDs mortality rates are up bucking the slight downward trend in infectious disease death rates.

The good news is that deaths from infective causes are down especially in the light of the AIDS/HIV epidemic and social causes of disease.

However, what we are seeing NCDs death rates going up (as a % of all deaths).

It foreshadows of the wave of NCDs deaths and disability to come.

From 2009 to 2011 the NCDs deaths were up slightly (0.1% and 0.8% of deaths)

  •  cerebrovascular disease (strokes, blood vessel disease and the like) from moves from 5th to 3rd place
  •  diabetes moves from 6th to 5th place
  •  other forms of heart disease stays in 4th place (some of these are infective)
  •  hypertensive disease (including heart and kidney failure) stayed in 8th place
  •  (COPD, asthma) chronic lower respiratory diseases moves from 9th to 10th place Good move ☺

Leading NCDs causes of death also vary according to by sex

Females top 5 NCDs

  • cerebrovascular disease 3rd highest cause
  • other forms of cardiovascular disease 4th highest cause
  • diabetes 5th highest cause
  • hypertensive disease 7th

Males top 3 NCDs deaths

  • other forms of cardiovascular disease 3rd highest
  • cerebrovascular disease 4rd highest cause
  • diabetes 7th highest cause
  • chronic lower respiratory disease 8th place
  • ischaemic heart disease 9th place

It is not easy to extract cancer statistics.

Judge for yourself —- read the full report from StatisticsSA