Cancer again ranked No. 1 in the Department of Health’s (DOH) annual survey of the leading causes of death in the nation last year, with one person dying of cancer every 13 minutes, 10 seconds.
Last year was the 28th consecutive year in which cancer was the leading cause of death nationwide. Of the 142,240 people in Taiwan who died last year, about 28 percent (39,917 people) died of cancer, the department said yesterday.
Lung cancer accounted for the most cancer deaths, followed by liver cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, stomach cancer, oral cancer, prostate cancer, esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer and cervical cancer.
The rankings for most of the leading types of cancer remained the same, but the prevalence of cervical cancer dropped from eighth in 2008 to 10th last year, probably because of increased efforts aimed at encouraging women to have pap smear tests, Bureau of Health Promotion Deputy Director Chao Kun-yu (趙坤郁) said.
Chao said that deaths resulting from some types of cancer, including breast, oral and colorectal cancer, could be prevented by early detection and treatment, and urged the public to have regular check-ups.
Aside from cancer, other major causes of death include heart disease (10.6 percent), cerebrovascular disease (7.3 percent), pneumonia (5.9 percent), diabetes (5.8 percent), accidents (5.2 percent), chronic respiratory disease (3.5 percent), chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (3.5 percent), suicide (2.9 percent), and nephritis, nephritic syndrome and nephrosis (2.8 percent).
The only category that saw a significant increase compared with previous years was accidents, because of last year’s Typhoon Morakot and the flooding and mudslides that followed.
The department’s survey also showed that on average, males in the country live to be 75.9 years old while females enjoy a longer life span of 82.5 years. The gap between life expectancies of men and women has continued to widen, from about a three-year difference 60 years ago to 6.5 years now, Chao said.
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