In 2013 two out of every five deaths in Malta involving persons aged 75 years or less could have been avoided in the light of medical knowledge and available technology, according to a study published by the EU’s statistical office.
The report says that the number of such deaths recorded in Malta three years ago stood at 476. This amounted to 42 per cent of the overall number of mortalities. Malta’s avoidable death rate was significantly higher than the European average of 33.7 per cent.
It transpired that in 2013 around 577,500 EU citizens had died prematurely.
Heart attacks topped the list with 184,800 cases, which amounted to 32 per cent of the total.
They were followed by strokes with 94,000 deaths, or 16 per cent, colorectal cancers (67,000 or 12 per cent), breast cancers (50,800 or nine per cent), hypertensive diseases (28,700 or five per cent) and pneumonia (24,100 or four per cent).
Eastern European countries topped the list, with Romania having the highest rate at 49.4 per cent of all mortalities deemed to have been avoidable. Malta was ranked in seventh place, whereas France had the lowest rate, with 23.8 per cent of avoidable deaths.