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Cancer top killer in UAE capital
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Sunday, 08 June 2008
BIGGEST KILLER: Cancer and accidental injury are the leading causes of death in Abu Dhabi, the DPM has said. (Getty Images)
Cancer and accidental injury are the biggest killers in Abu Dhabi, a study of death records at the Department of Preventive Medicines (DPM) in Al Ain has revealed.
The research has dispelled the popular conception that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the emirate, UAE daily Gulf News reported on Sunday.
A team of researchers retrospectively studied death certificates and hospital records and found the three leading underlying causes of death were cancer (20%), injury (19%), and cardiovascular diseases (12%). About 15% of deaths were for unknown reasons.
The study found more younger people were dying because of injury, mostly caused by traffic accidents.
The average age of death for injury victims was 34, 60 for cancer, and 64 for cardiovascular diseases.
Peter Barss, head of the research team, told the newspaper the proportion of deaths by injury was higher for non-Emiratis, with a figure of 22% compared with 16% for Emiratis.
The proportion of deaths by cardiovascular diseases was 13% for Emiratis and 11% for non-Emiratis, he said.
Barss said the study had intended to establish the true causes of death in the emirate.
Cardiac arrest is commonly listed on death certificates, however since everyone's heart and breathing stops when they die, this was unacceptable, he said.
Establishing the true causes of death would enable health authorities to place resources in preventive measures against the correct leading causes of death, he added.
Western research has also shown that physicians do not accurately record the underlying causes of death on death certificates and the situation was believed to be similar in the UAE, the newspaper said.
