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Causes of death
The Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) compiles official statistics on the causes of death of the Latvian population from medical certificates on the cause of death.
Statistics on the causes of death of the population provide important information on public health.
Causes of death are the causes recorded in the medical certificate and refer to all those diseases, conditions, or injuries which have caused or contributed to the death as well as the circumstances of an accident or violence resulting in any such injury.
The underlying cause-of-death is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as ‘the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury’.
The statistics published in Official statistics portal reflects mortality based on the main or underlaying cause of death.
Main groups of causes of death
Child mortality
One of the most common causes of death in children under 17 years of age is preventable external causes of death. The most common causes of death in children under 1 year are certain conditions of the perinatal period and congenital malformations deformities and chromosomal abnormalities and sudden infant death syndrome.
Diseases of the circulatory system
Diseases of the circulatory system, or cardiovascular diseases, are diseases that affect the heart or blood vessels (arteries, veins and capillaries). Diseases of the circulatory system remain one of the leading causes of death in Latvia and worldwide.
Common diseases of the circulatory system
Chronic ischaemic heart disease is the most common cause of death among diseases of the circulatory system.
There is an increasing trend in the number of deaths caused by hypertensive diseases, or complications related to arterial hypertension (popularly known as "high blood pressure"). The next most common causes of death are cerebrovascular diseases (including stroke and cerebral infarction), cardiomyopathies and ischaemic heart diseases (including acute myocardial infarction (heart attack)).
Mortality from diseases of the circulatory system (per 100 000 population)
Malignant neoplasms
Malignant neoplasms are the leading cause of disability and the second leading cause of death in Latvia. Tumours are classified according to their localisation, e.g. stomach, colon, uterus, prostate, etc.
There are gender differences in the prevalence of malignant neoplasms. The most common causes of death among the malignant neoplasms in women are breast malignancy, colorectal malignancy, bronchial and lung neoplasms. In contrast, for men, the most common neoplasms that cause death are bronchial and pulmonary malignancies, prostate malignancies and colorectal neoplasms.
Latvia has one of the highest relative mortality rates from malignant neoplasms compared to European Union Member States (Eurostat: Death due to cancer, by sex [tps00116])
Mortality from liver and prostate malignant neoplasms is increasing among men.
Among females, the most common causes of death are malignant neoplasms of the breast, the rectum (known as bowel cancer), the bronchi and lungs, the pancreas, the lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissues, and the stomach.
The most common malignancies in children are malignant neoplasm of brain and leukaemia.
Cancer mortality (per 100 000 population)
Diseases of the digestive system
Mortality from diseases of the digestive system (per 100 000 population)
Effects of alcohol abuse
Latvia has a relatively high mortality rate due to alcohol abuse (cause of death - mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol abuse, Eurostat: Death due to alcoholic abuse, by sex [tps00140]).
External causes of death
External causes of death are discussed in a separate section.