KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Ischaemic heart disease remained the principal cause of death in Malaysia in 2020 with 18,515 recorded out of the total of 109,155 medically-certified deaths reported.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the number had increased from 11.6 per cent in 2000 to 17 per cent in 2020, with 12,707 or 68.6 per cent deaths for males, while females made up 5,808 or 31.4 per cent.
“It was also the principal cause of death for all the major ethnic groups in Malaysia with the Bumiputera (16.6 per cent), Chinese (16.0 per cent) and Indians (22.8 per cent).
“At the Asean level, ischaemic heart disease was also the principal cause of death in Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. A similar trend was also observed in developed countries such as the USA, Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia,” he said in a statement today.
Mohd Uzir said unhealthy lifestyle practices and diet were among the contributors to death from ischaemic heart disease nowadays.
“This is supported by a statement from the Ministry of Health, that Malaysia is categorised as not a healthy country based on public awareness of the health aspects, which is still at a low level while the heart disease and obesity rates are relatively high.
“The findings in the National Health and Mobility Survey (NHMS) Report 2019, showed that high blood sugar, blood pressure and high cholesterol are major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart disease,” he said.
Mohd Uzir also said that ischaemic heart disease was the principal cause of death in 92 administrative districts and the highest percentage was recorded in Kampar, Perak with 33.3 per cent.
On pneumonia, he said it was the principal cause of death in 32 administrative districts with the highest percentage recorded by Pakan, Sabah (19.9 per cent).
Cerebrovascular disease was recorded as the principal cause of death in 14 districts, hypertensive disease in four districts and chronic lower respiratory disease in one district.
In terms of age group, the principal cause of death for those aged 0-14 years and 15-40 years was transport accident at 3.0 per cent and 16.8 per cent, respectively.
Ischaemic heart disease was the principal cause of death for the age group of 41-59 years (20 per cent) and 60 years and over (18 per cent)
Meanwhile, Covid-19 was the newest cause of death in 2020 with 471 deaths or 0.3 per cent of the 166,507 deaths.
Sabah registered the highest number of deaths from Covid-19 with 265 while Terengganu registered the lowest with only one death, according to the statement.
At the Asean level, three countries that recorded the highest number of deaths due to Covid-19 (as at October 31, 2021) were Indonesia (22,138), the Philippines (9,244) and Myanmar (2,682).
Among the developed countries, three countries that recorded the highest number of deaths from Covid-19 were the USA (351,754), United Kingdom (73,622) and Canada (15,762). — Bernama
