Evacuation of an injured person from a car accident by ambulance from Bartaea/Rambam Hospital
According to the data published today (Wednesday) by the Information Division of the Ministry of Health, in the years 2020-2022, cancer is the main cause of death in the State of Israel, followed by heart disease. This, similar to data from previous years. However, the third largest cause of death in those years is from the corona virus, which claimed the lives of 10% of those who died in 2021. Mortality rates from ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease have decreased by more than 80% since the early 1980s.
Differences between men and women
In 2022, malignant diseases and heart diseases were the two most common causes of death among both men and women. that malignant diseases caused 22.9% of the deaths among the men and 22.1% of the deaths among the women. Heart diseases caused 12.7% of deaths among men and 12.2% of deaths among women. The third most common cause of death in both sexes was corona virus disease - 8.7% of deaths among men and 8.0% of deaths among women.
The most common types of cancer among men were: trachea, bronchial and lung cancer (20.1% of all deaths from cancer), colorectal cancer, luminal colon and rectum (9.7%), and pancreatic cancer (8.6%). The most common types of cancer among women were: breast cancer (18.4% of all cancer deaths), trachea, bronchial and lung cancer (11.6%) and colorectal and rectal cancer (9.4%).
Among men, the fourth most common cause was infectious diseases (4.9% of deaths) followed by all external causes (4.8% of deaths). Among women, the fourth most common cause of death was dementia (5.5% of deaths) followed by diabetes (5.0%). As mentioned, external causes of death were in fifth place among men and in eleventh place among women; Dementia was fourth among women and eleventh among men.
Mortality rates in Arab society
The report finds that the death rates from most causes of death are higher among Arabs compared to Jews. The reasons for which the differences are particularly large are: diabetes (2.2 times in Arabs compared to Jews), chronic diseases of the upper respiratory tract (2.0 times), car accidents (2.5 times) and murder (8.2 times). In contrast, the standardized rates of suicides and dementia (kihion) among Jews are 2.1 times and 1.3 times higher than Arabs, respectively.