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Preventable causes of death are causes of death related to risk factors which could have been avoided.[1] The World Health Organization has traditionally classified death according to the primary type of disease or injury. However, causes of death may also be classified in terms of preventable risk factors—such as smoking, unhealthy diet, sexual behavior, and reckless driving—which contribute to a number of different diseases. Such risk factors are usually not recorded directly on death certificates, although they are acknowledged in medical reports.
It is estimated that of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds—100,000 per day—die of age-related causes.[2] In industrialized nations the proportion is much higher, reaching 90 percent.[2] Thus, albeit indirectly, biological aging (senescence) is by far the leading cause of death. Whether senescence as a biological process itself can be slowed, halted, or even reversed is a subject of current scientific speculation and research.[3]
Risk factors associated with the leading causes of preventable death worldwide as of the year 2001, according to researchers working with the Disease Control Priorities Network (DCPN)[4]:[5]
| Cause | Number of deaths resulting (millions per year) |
|---|---|
| Hypertension | 7.8 |
| Smoking tobacco | 5.4 |
| Alcohol use disorder | 3.8 |
| Sexually transmitted diseases | 3.0 |
| Poor diet | 2.8 |
| Overweight and obesity | 2.5 |
| Physical inactivity | 2.0 |
| Malnutrition | 1.9 |
| Indoor air pollution from solid fuels | 1.8 |
| Unsafe water and poor sanitation | 1.6 |
By contrast, the World Health Organization (WHO)'s 2008 statistics Archived 2014-02-04 at the Wayback Machine list only causes of death, and not the underlying risk factors.
In 2001, on average 29,000 children died of preventable causes each day (that is, about 20 deaths per minute). The authors provide the context:
About 56 million people died in 2001. Of these, 10.6 million were children, 99% of whom lived in low-and-middle-income countries. More than half of child deaths in 2001 were attributable to acute respiratory infections, measles, diarrhea, malaria, and HIV/AIDS.[5]
The three risk factors most commonly leading to preventable death in the population of the United States are smoking, high blood pressure, and being overweight.[6] Pollution from fossil fuel burning kills roughly 200,000/year.[1] Archived 2021-07-01 at the Wayback Machine
| Cause | Number | Percent of total | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preventable medical errors in hospitals | 210,000 to 448,000[9] | 23.1% | Estimates vary, significant numbers of preventable deaths also result from errors outside of hospitals. |
| Adverse events in hospitals in low- and middle-income countries | 2.6 million deaths[10] | "one of the 10 leading causes of death and disability in the world" | |
| Smoking tobacco | 435,000[7] | 18.1% | |
| Obesity | 111,900[11] | 4.6% | There was considerable debate about the differences in the numbers of obesity-related diseases.[12] The value here reflects the death rate for obesity that has been found to be the most accurate of the debated values.[13] Note, however, that being overweight but not obese was associated with fewer deaths (not more deaths) relative to being normal weight.[11] |
| Alcohol | 85,000[7] | 3.5% | |
| Infectious diseases | 75,000[7] | 3.1% | |
| Toxic agents including toxins, particulates and radon | 55,000[7] | 2.3% | |
| Traffic collisions | 43,000[7] | 1.8% | |
| Preventable colorectal cancers | 41,400 | 1.7% | Colorectal cancer (bowel cancer, colon cancer) caused 51,783 deaths in the US in 2011.[14] About 80 percent[15] of colorectal cancers begin as benign growths, commonly called polyps, which can be easily detected and removed during a colonoscopy. Accordingly, the tabulated figure assumes that 80 percent of the fatal cancers could have been prevented. |
| Firearms deaths | 31,940[16] | 1.3% | Suicide: 19,766; homicide: 11,101; accidents: 852; unknown: 822. |
| Sexually transmitted infections | 20,000[7] | 0.8% | |
| Substance use disorder | 17,000[7][needs update] | 0.7% |
Various injuries are the leading cause of death in children 9–17 years of age. In 2008, the top five worldwide unintentional injuries in children are as follows:[17]
| Cause | Number of deaths resulting |
|---|---|
| Traffic collision |
260,000 per year |
| Drowning |
175,000 per year |
| Viruses |
96,000 per year |
| Falls |
47,000 per year |
| Toxins |
45,000 per year |
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Categories: [Causes of death] [Death-related lists] [Demography] [Prevention]
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