Cancer remained top cause of death in Taiwan in 2018
Pixabay image
Taipei, Oct. 9 (CNA) Cancer remained the number one killer in Taiwan in 2018, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI).
Cancer has remained the top killer in Taiwan for the past 37 years, while cardiac disease was the number two cause of death for the 11th straight year last year, followed by pneumonia, the MOI said.
These diseases alone led to 83,774 deaths in 2018, the ministry said, noting that the number of deaths caused by the three diseases was an increase over the previous year.
According to the latest MOI statistics, the average life expectancy in Taiwan was 80.69 years in 2018, with men and women averaging a record 77.55 years and 84.05 years, respectively.
Hypothetically speaking, if cancer could be removed from the mortality table, Taiwan's average life expectancy would have been 3.94 years higher, at 84.63 years, in 2018, it said.
Besides cancer, heart disease and pneumonia, the next most common causes of death in Taiwan, in descending order, were cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, accidents, chronic lower respiratory diseases, hypertension-related diseases, kidney disease, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis.
The causes of death among men and women also varied, the MOI said, citing for example that deaths caused by cancer, cerebrovascular disease and accidents were found mostly among men, while diabetes, hypertension and kidney disease mostly affected women, the MOI said.
Factors such as occupation, physical condition and eating habits play a huge part in the difference, the ministry added.
(By Yang Kai-hsiang and Ko Lin)
Enditem/J