Cancer remains the leading cause of death in Israel among men and women, the Ministry’s Leading Cause of Death Report 2000-2015 documents. In 2015, cancer accounted for 26% of all deaths.

The second cause of death in 1999 among men and women is heart disease, accounting for 15% of all deaths in 2015.

Vascular disease in the brain (brain events) is the third leading cause of death among women, a slightly higher rate than diabetes. Among men the situation is reversed: diabetes ranks third, and brain events in fourth place.

The fifth cause of death is sepsis (infection), kidney disease, chronic lower respiratory tract infections, dementia, pneumonia and influenza and accidents.

In the past decade there has been a decline in mortality rates for most of the causes of death, including the development of medical equipment and the attention of emergency doctors, especially heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, accidents, and diseases of the lower respiratory system.

On the other hand, there was an increase in death due to dementia, sepsis, Alzheimer’s disease, pneumonia and influenza, as well as pneumonia caused by fluid or solids inhalation.

Unlike the Alzheimer’s disease, which has no known medical solution today, the Ministry of Health recently declared war on the blood stream and the hospitals regularly report on the number of sepsis cases in the various departments, in an effort to eradicate the phenomenon and reduce it as much as possible.

Where do the most people die in Israel? According to the report, the southern portion of the country has a mortality rate of 543.2 people per 100,000 people, followed by the Northern District, where 539.2 deaths per 100,000, and the Haifa district with a mortality rate of 495.1 people per 100,000 people. Tel Aviv has 472.9 deaths per 100,000 people, and the Jerusalem District with 456.8 deaths per 100,000 people, followed by Central District with 454.7 deaths per 100,000 people, and at the end of the list – with the fewest dying, probably because the population is younger – Yehuda and Shomron with 415.5 people per 100,000 people.

The good news, Israel has the lowest mortality rate as compared to most of Europe, Canada, and the United States among 23 countries, and only Switzerland has a lower rate, while the rate for women is ranked seventh lowest after France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Canada, which recorded a lower rate.

The mortality rate is lower in Israel than in the US, Canada, and most European countries regarding cancer, heart disease, liver disease, Alzheimer’s, accidents and suicide, as well as cerebrovascular disease compared to most European countries.

On the other hand, the rate in Israel is 4.7 times higher regarding illness impacting the blood stream (and is ranked first in the mortality rate with 40.2 people per 100,000 people), 2.7 times higher in kidney disease (first in mortality with 32 people per 100,000 people), 2.5 times higher in diabetes (In the first place with a mortality rate of 2.51 per 100,000) and 1.9 times higher in hypertension than in the EU.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)