Cancer Mortality by Health Authority

Topic Box from the 2006 Sixth Annual Benchmark Report

Description
Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells form in human organs or tissue and grow to form a tumour. Two-thirds of all cancers are caused by a person's lifestyle, such as diet, physical activity, drinking and smoking habits. This indicator is a proxy for an area's propensity to make healthy lifestyle choices. Fully 95% of cancer deaths occur after the age of 45 years. The indicator is the total number of cancer deaths per 1,000 people for those aged 45 years and older.

Why it's Important
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Canada. The National Cancer Institute of Canada¹ estimates that there will be as many as 153,100 new cases of cancer and 70,400 cancer deaths in 2006. Approximately 44% of men and 38% of women will develop cancer. Fully 29% of men and 24% of women will die of cancer.

Over the period 1996 to 2005, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority had the lowest cancer mortality rate among the Health Authorities with a rate of 14.7 deaths per 10,000 population. The Northern Health Authority reported the highest cancer mortality rate for 2005 (16.8 deaths per 10,000 population) and had the highest average cancer mortality rate for 1996 through 2005 at 18.3 deaths per 10,000 population.

The cancer mortality rate in 2005 was lower than in 1996 in every region. The largest decrease (15.4%) was in the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority while the smallest decrease (4.6%) was in the Vancouver Island Health Authority. Overall, British Columbia's cancer mortality rate was 11.2% lower in 2005 than in 1996.

Source: ¹Canadian Cancer Statistics 2006, National Cancer Institute of Canada, April 2006.