The Ministry of Health publishes today 15/08/19 the leading causes of death in Israel. According to the main findings "Leading causes of death in 2000-2016 in Israel:
1- Cancer
2- Heart disease
3- Cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes.
Cancer - the number 1 cause of death
Cancer has been the number one cause of death for men and women since 1999. On average, in 2014-2016, cancer was the number one cause of death among women aged 15-74 and men aged 25 and over.
In 2016, a quarter of the deaths were from cancer.
Heart disease - the number 2 cause of death
Heart disease has been the second leading cause of death for men and women since 1999. On average, in 2014-2016, heart disease was the number one cause of death for women aged 75 and over and the second cause for women aged 45-74 and men aged 45 and over.
In 2016, heart disease accounted for 15% of all deaths.
Cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes - the number 3 and 4 cause of death
On average in 2014-2016, cerebrovascular disease was the third leading cause of death for women, slightly higher than diabetes. Among men, the ranking is reversed, diabetes ranks third and cerebrovascular diseases fourth.
- On average in 2014-2016, accidents were the first cause of death among boys and second among girls aged 15-24 and the third among 0-14 and 25-44 among both sexes.
- On average in 2014-2016, suicide was the second leading cause of death among men aged 15-44 and women aged 25-44 and the third leading cause of death among women aged 15-24.
- In recent years, perinatal causes and birth defects are the leading causes of death at this age
0-4 followed by accidents, which together constitute about three quarters of all deaths among 0-4 year olds.
A decrease in the death rate for most causes of death - an increase in dementia, sepsis and Alzheimer's
The Ministry of Health reports that in the last decade, there has been a downward trend in the death rate for most causes of death, especially heart disease, murder, accidents, cerebrovascular disease, kidney disease, suicide and diabetes. On the other hand, there was an increase in dementia, sepsis and Alzheimer's among both sexes.
It is also reported that the age-adjusted death rate in Israel is lower than Canada, the USA and most European countries. In 2015, Israel ranked fourth lowest for men out of 25 countries and only Canada, Luxembourg and Switzerland recorded a lower rate, while women ranked eighth lowest after France, Spain, Switzerland , Italy, Luxembourg and Canada, where a lower rate was recorded and a similar rate in Finland.
The age-standardized mortality rate in Israel is low compared to the USA, Canada and most European countries from cancer, heart disease, liver disease, Alzheimer's, accidents and suicide as well as cerebrovascular diseases compared to most European countries. In contrast, the rate in Israel is 4.5 times higher in sepsis, 2.7 times in kidney diseases, 2.5 times in diabetes, and 1.9 times in hypertension compared to the average of the 15 Western countries in the EU in 2015.