SOUTH AFRICA VS USA: TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH

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	UNITED STATES		SOUTH AFRICA		Deaths
Cause Of Death	Rnk	Deaths	Rnk	Deaths	Summary
Coronary Heart Disease	1	89,243	3	32,739	+ 56,504
Alzheimers & Dementia	2	50,763	22	4,676	+ 46,087
Lung Disease	3	34,535	13	11,895	+ 22,640
Stroke	4	28,019	4	30,693	- 2,675
Lung Cancers	5	27,491	15	7,705	+ 19,785
Kidney Disease	6	15,176	9	15,302	- 126
Drug Use	7	13,156	53	770	+ 12,387
Hypertension	8	11,659	12	12,789	- 1,130
Colon-Rectum Cancers	9	10,928	28	3,587	+ 7,341
Diabetes Mellitus	10	10,856	5	30,188	- 19,332
Influenza and Pneumonia	11	10,661	2	39,341	- 28,680
Suicide	12	9,385	10	13,774	- 4,389
Breast Cancer	13	8,603	23	4,533	+ 4,069
Endocrine Disorders	14	8,305	19	5,890	+ 2,415
Pancreas Cancer	15	7,829	35	2,007	+ 5,822
Liver Disease	16	7,671	14	9,013	- 1,342
Road Traffic Accidents	17	7,370	11	13,014	- 5,645
Falls	18	7,144	42	1,399	+ 5,745
Lymphomas	19	7,120	31	2,818	+ 4,302
Prostate Cancer	20	6,295	24	4,374	+ 1,921
Parkinson's Disease	21	6,096	46	1,077	+ 5,019
Inflammatory/Heart	22	5,750	21	5,408	+ 341
Liver Cancer	23	4,784	33	2,383	+ 2,400
Leukemia	24	4,766	40	1,464	+ 3,303
Other Injuries	25	4,595	17	6,014	- 1,419
Bladder Cancer	26	3,468	52	829	+ 2,639
Violence	27	3,354	7	21,000	- 17,646
Oesophagus Cancer	28	3,151	29	3,486	- 334
Other Neoplasms	29	3,136	58	267	+ 2,869
Alcohol	30	2,591	49	987	+ 1,604
Ovary Cancer	31	2,579	51	951	+ 1,628
Skin Cancers	32	2,529	48	993	+ 1,537
Stomach Cancer	33	2,311	39	1,535	+ 777
Congenital Anomalies	34	2,079	25	4,351	- 2,272
Oral Cancer	35	2,042	41	1,406	+ 637
Uterin Cancer	36	1,779	54	512	+ 1,266
Diarrhoeal diseases	37	1,759	8	15,843	- 14,084
Cervical Cancer	38	1,234	20	5,555	- 4,321
Low Birth Weight	39	1,224	16	6,250	- 5,026
Malnutrition	40	1,195	34	2,381	- 1,185
Hepatitis C	41	1,005	70	8	+ 997
HIV/AIDS	42	1,000	1	71,996	- 70,995
Skin Disease	43	956	45	1,101	- 145
Multiple Sclerosis	44	894	62	113	+ 781
Drownings	45	719	32	2,403	- 1,684
Asthma	46	675	18	5,966	- 5,291
Rheumatic Heart Disease	47	644	47	1,015	- 370
Peptic Ulcer Disease	48	612	36	1,894	- 1,282
Fires	49	563	27	3,618	- 3,055
Epilepsy	50	559	37	1,870	- 1,311
Anemia	51	551	82	0	+ 551
Rheumatoid Arthritis	52	435	55	376	+ 59
Poisonings	53	296	50	975	- 680
Birth Trauma	54	218	30	3,004	- 2,786
War	55	212	64	66	+ 146
Maternal Conditions	56	138	38	1,700	- 1,562
Schizophrenia	57	128	80	0	+ 128
Prostatic Hypertrophy	58	120	86	0	+ 120
Hepatitis B	59	107	61	139	- 32
Meningitis	60	107	26	3,660	- 3,553
Osteoarthritis	61	102	85	0	+ 102
Tuberculosis	62	97	6	21,965	- 21,869
Appendicitis	63	75	56	274	- 199
Oral conditions	64	50	84	0	+ 50
Upper Respiratory	65	41	60	223	- 182
Syphilis	66	9	44	1,130	- 1,121
Otitis Media	67	6	67	19	- 13
Encephalitis	68	4	59	234	- 230
Pertussis	69	3	43	1,142	- 1,139
Chagas disease	70	1	78	0	+ 1
Tetanus	71	0	65	38	- 37
Schistosomiasis	72	0	66	35	- 35
Iodine Deficiency	73	0	79	0	+ 0
Leprosy	74	0	75	0	+ 0
Diphtheria	75	0	69	16	- 16
Dengue	76	0	73	0	+ 0
Malaria	77	0	63	83	- 83
Trypanosomiasis	78	0	76	0	- 0
Leishmaniasis	79	0	77	0	- 0
Measles	80	0	57	270	- 270
Hookworm Disease	81	0	72	0	- 0
Ascariasis	82	0	71	3	- 3
Trichuriasis	83	0	74	0	- 0
Chlamydia	84	0	68	18	- 18
Vitamin A Deficiency	85	0	81	0	- 0
Depression	86	0	83	0	- 0
TOTAL DEATHS

Note: Population is Equalized to SOUTH AFRICA

United States

South Africa

THE INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE

The point of this intellectual exercise is to measure what would happen if two countries shared the same leading causes of death. To make these comparisons possible we equalized the population and used total deaths for each country's top 10 causes to simulate an "Exchange." Use the chart on the left to sort by the country name and use the summary plus and minus column to measure the differences in total deaths.

Life Expectancy statistics are calculated the same way everywhere in the world, but what we die from can be very different depending upon where we live. Despite these differences, with rare exception, the top 10 causes of death for any given country will represent between 70-80% of their total deaths. This is an intellectual exercise only, not a comparison of which country is healthier or to challenge existing life expectancy rankings. If you prefer to see total deaths for over 80 causes and choose your own countries to compare go here: https://www.globallifeexpectancy.com/world-rankings-total-deaths

ABOUT OUR DATA

All meaningful comparisons between countries should be made using the same data source and year. The most reliable source for International comparisons is the World Health Organization because it is standardized for cross cultural comparisons. It is also reviewed annually, which often makes it more current than individual country data that can take years to compile. The WHO data includes individual country "projections," that are calculated based upon an annual consultation with each country before it is published. There are differences however, such as WHO data separates different forms of heart disease and cancer and combines Alzheimer's with Dementia. In this top 10 comparison WHO data for both countries was used.