Top Ten Leading Causes of Death in the World and in India

Top Ten Leading Causes of Death in the World and in India

As per World Health Organization, the ten leading causes of death in the world in the year 2012 are given in the following table.  48.6% deaths are happening due to other diseases/causes. Prematurity, TB are not now among top 10 causes of death in the world.  

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths in Millions	Percentage to Total No. of Deaths
Ischemic Heart Disease	7.4	13.2
Stroke	6.7	11.9
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)	3.1	5.6
Lower Respiratory Infections	3.1	5.5
Trachea Bronchus Lung Cancers	1.6	2.9
HIV/AIDs	1.5	2.7
Diarrheal Diseases	1.5	2.7
Diabetes Mellitus	1.5	2.7
Road Injury	1.3	2.2
Hypertensive Heart Disease	1.1	2

There is increase in the number of deaths due to Ischemic heart disease, Stroke, Lung Cancers, Diabetes Mellitus, Road Injury and Hypertensive Heart Disease over the period 2000 to 2012.  The reversal is seen in other above-mentioned diseases over the period.

Registrar General of India's office has been conducting “verbal autopsies” on a sample group across the country every few years. The latest such ‘causes of death study' was conducted in 2010-13 and the data has been released just recently. The sample consisted of 1.8 lakh deaths across the country, and the cause of death was established by interviewing the household, followed by its analysis by a team of medical professionals.

The data shows that overall, cardiovascular disease is the top killer of Indians, accounting for 23 per cent of all deaths in 2010-13.  The ten leading causes of death in India in the year 2010-13 are given in the following table.

Cause of Death	Percentage to Total No. of Sample Deaths
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)	23.3
Ill defined Diseases	12.4
Respiratory Diseases	7.6
Malignant and Other Neoplasms	6.1
Perinatal Conditions	5.6
Diarrheal Diseases	5.1
Unintentional Injuries	4.7
Respiratory Infections	3.9
Tuberculosis	3.7

Non-communicable diseases account for more deaths in India's richer states than in its poorer states. We may note that CVD is also top cause of death in India too.  There are some diseases, which are ill defined by the people at large. As our masses are less literate in medical matters, this class has emerged as second highest killer diseases. The cancers, including lung cancer are giving deaths to many Indians. Cardiovascular disease is the biggest killer of older adults, followed by cancers. We have Diarrheal Diseases as fifth highest killer, where it has rank 7 in killing people of the world.  TB is finding tenth place, where it is below the 10^th place in case of world as a whole. The other problem of road or unintentional injuries should be bothered about, as this cause is also quite predominant cause of death here. Injuries have now surpassed diarrheal disease as the leading cause of death among boys aged 1-4 years. “Unintentional injuries” have also become the leading killers of young boys and girls aged 5-14.

Among neonatal and infant deaths, prematurity and low birth weight has become a progressively biggest cause of death as more institutional deliveries have meant fewer birth trauma-related deaths. Also if ANCs coverage improvement and as well better counseling and treatment of needy eligible women may solve the problem of prematurity or low birth weight among new born babies particularly baby girls.  This will not only reduce the IMR, but also help in correcting adverse sex ratio in the country.  However there is a substantial difference between India's richer and poorer states; deaths of children under the age of 4 account for nearly 40 per cent of all deaths in the poorest states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam, and just 17 per cent of deaths in the other states. The burden of child death is also higher in rural than in urban areas. Deaths due to perinatal conditions are still quite significant in India as compared to world at large.

Among young adults aged 15-29, road accidents have surpassed suicides as the leading cause of death of young men, while suicides are not responsible for an even larger proportion of young female deaths. Suicides are particularly high in the southern India; it is the sixth largest cause of death across age groups in the four southern states, while it does not figure among the top ten causes of death in any other region.

India can also control the Diarrheal Diseases and TB as other countries have done the same.  Public Health Authorities should take care of perinatal problem, besides TB and Influenza & Pneumonia in India, as these problems are little less significant in other countries of the world.