About 75 percent of deaths that occur in Sri Lanka are due to Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) while 40 percent of those are due to cardiovascular diseases, Consultant Community Physician attached to the National Cancer Control Programme of the Health Ministry Dr. Suraj Perera told the Daily News, yesterday.
According to Dr. Perera, 10 percent of the 75 percent of NCD deaths are due to cancer. Another 10 percent is due to other NCDs. Seven percent of the total number of deaths is due to diabetes. Annually, a total of 138,000 deaths are reported from Sri Lanka.
Dr. Perera added that eight percent of deaths that take place in Sri Lanka are due to chronic respiratory diseases and 11 percent of deaths are due to communicable, maternal, prenatal and nutritional issues. Fourteen percent of deaths are due to various types of injuries. In 1985, there were only 4,416 cancer deaths reported in Sri Lanka but it increased to 9,403 by 2005. In 2009, there were 11,286 cancer deaths in Sri Lanka which shows a clear increase, he added.
Add new comment