The cancer “death clock” was moved forward 20 seconds last year from 11 minutes and 44 seconds in the previous year, with cancers topping the nation’s 10 leading causes of death for the 33rd consecutive year, according to statistics released yesterday by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Of the 162,911 Taiwanese who died last year, a total of 46,094 were killed by cancers, accounting for 28.3 percent of all deaths recorded last year, the statistics showed.
Cancers of the trachea, bronchus and lung were once again the most deadly in the nation last year, with a mortality of 39.2 people per 100,000, followed by liver and intrahepatic bile ducts cancers (34.9 people per 100,000); colorectal and anal cancers (23.9 people); breast cancers (17.7 people) and oral cancers (11.6 people).
Rounding out the top 10 were prostate cancers (10.4 people), stomach cancers (10 people), pancreatic cancers (8.1 people), esophageal cancers (7.7 people) and cancers of the cervix uteri and uterus (5.5 people), the statistics showed.
In addition, men appear to be 1.8 times more likely to succumb to cancers than women, with 28,476 men and boys dying of cancers last year compared with 17,618 women and girls.
While the age-standardized mortality for cancer slightly decreased last year by 0.2 percent to 130.2 people per 100,000 from the previous year, the death rate for esophageal cancer showed the most significant increase among other types of cancer — 4.9 percent, the data indicated.
The most dramatic decline was in the standardized mortality for cancers of the cervix uteri and uterus, at 12.9 percent.
Heart diseases were the second leading cause of death nationwide, followed by cerebrovascular diseases, pneumonia, diabetes, accidents, chronic lower respiratory illnesses, high blood pressure, liver diseases and kidney problems.
No significant changes were seen in the causes of deaths last year compared with those recorded in the previous year, except that pneumonia and diabetes exchanged ranks.
Suicide remained off the list for the fifth consecutive year. It first left the list in 2010.
The number of individuals who committed suicide was 3,546 last year, 19 fewer people than in the previous year.
Over all, one person died every three minutes, 13 seconds last year, which represented a decrease of 11 seconds from 2013.
Accidents were responsible for the most deaths in people aged one to 14 and from 15 to 24, killing 500 and 1,190 people respectively.
About 72 percent of accident victims were men and 28 percent women. Most of them were killed in traffic accidents, followed by accidental tumbles and falls from heights.
An average of 20 accidental deaths were reported per day last year, which was equivalent to a death every 73 minutes, 47 seconds, the statistics showed.
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