Leading Causes of Death in Asia

Author: Madeline Ellis

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6 percent of the earth's total surface area and with over 4 billion people it contains more than 60 percent of the world's current human population. The causes of death in the major regions of the continent differ, often depending upon income levels.

Infectious and parasitic diseases have historically been the main causes of death in Asia and the Pacific. However, in the last few years, the rise in the prevalence of non-communicable or chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and others have increased considerably. In 2005, chronic diseases accounted for 64% of all deaths in the Asia and Pacific region, and they are now the leading causes of mortality in almost all sub-regions.
Perinatal conditions, tuberculosis and road traffic accidents remained important as well. Alcohol consumption is also a risk factor in this region, where it is estimated that each adult consumes 3.5 liters annually.

In Central Asia, 80 percent of deaths are caused by chronic diseases; the highest percentage among the regions. Cardiovascular diseases are the main single cause, accounting for 55 percent of all deaths, followed by trachea, bronchus, and lung cancers in third place. Self-inflicted injuries were the 5th leading cause in this region, poisonings ranked 7th and cirrhosis of the liver at 9th. Road traffic accidents are also included among the top 10 causes of death in this region. By 2003, the per capita alcohol consumption in Central Asia had declined from the levels in 1990.

Approximately 1.4 billion people live in South Asia, the world's second most populous region. Since 1990, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day has decreased. But despite this progress, more people live in extreme poverty here than in any other region. South Asians continue to face high rates of undernourishment, rising rates of child malnutrition, and the second-lowest life expectancy at birth. While ischemic heart disease and lower respiratory infections topped the region's list of death causes, perinatal conditions, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and suicide were also in the top ten.

In spite of overwhelming evidence linking tobacco use and various diseases, including cancer, cigarette consumption in nearly all countries of the world is increasing. But several Asian countries have some of the highest proportions of the population smoking in the world. In Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Armenia, the prevalence of smoking among male adults exceeds 65 percent. In others, such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and China, more than half of the male population smokes. And although smoking among women is lower than among men everywhere, there are still countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Turkey where a considerable part of the female population smokes.

This high prevalence of smoking in the region isn't likely to fade in the near future, since smoking among youths aged 13 to 15 is also widespread. In some areas, more than 25 percent of all adolescents smoke, while in others the number is close to one in five. And in the Pacific, the Cook Islands and Palau, the prevalence of smoking among youngsters reaches levels of 45 and 33 percent, respectively.

Perinatal conditions, including birth asphyxia, birth trauma and low birth weight, were the top death cause for children aged 0 to 14 in Asia, followed closely by lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, malaria, measles, HIV/AIDS, congenital anomalies, whooping cough, tetanus, and road traffic accidents. Deaths from measles have declined modestly, although more than half a million children under the age of five still died from this disease in 2001. Malaria causes more than a million child deaths per year or close to 11 percent of all deaths of children under five.

The World Health Organization (WHO) report, "Preventing Chronic Diseases: a vital investment" projects that approximately 17 million people world-wide die prematurely each year as a result of chronic diseases. In the report, WHO proposes a new global goal: to reduce the projected increase of chronic disease rates by 2 percent each year until 2015, which they believe would prevent 36 million people from dying of chronic disease in the next 10 years, nearly half of them before they turn 70. But in order to achieve the goal, all sectors from government, private industry, civil society and communities, will have to work together. "More and more people are dying too early and suffering too long from chronic diseases," said Catherine le Gales-Camus, Assistant Director General of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health at the WHO. "We know what to do, and so we must do it now."