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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published June 25, 2010
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Life expectancy here up over 40 years: study
MOM aims to tackle risk factors for heart disease and cancer
By RACHEL SIM
ADULT mortality - the risk of dying between the ages of 15 and 59 - has declined in Singapore over the past four decades, with life expectancy at birth having risen from 66 in 1970 to 81 this year.
According to a recent study by world-leading medical journal The Lancet, adult mortality here fell 64 per cent for men and 68 per cent for women between 1970 and 2010.
The study's writers suggest that changes in adult mortality worldwide are due to diseases of affluence, socio-economic development, improved health care, social dysfunction after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the HIV epidemic.
It attributes the decline in adult mortality in Singapore to better nutrition as the economy developed, greater control of infectious diseases, increased access to healthcare advances, disease prevention and health promotion.
Adult mortality measures the risk of people dying in the prime of life. It complements other measures of population health such as infant mortality, childhood mortality and life expectancy.
According to Ministry of Health (MOH) figures, the age-standardised death rate for Singapore adults aged 15-59 has halved over the past 20 years, from 223 per 100,000 people in 1989 to 111 per 100,000 people. This translates to a drop of about 3 per cent a year.
The Lancet study covered 187 countries, with Singapore shooting up in the rankings from 72nd for men and 62nd for women in 1970 to 16th for men and 14th for women this year.
MOH says that although Singapore has made tremendous strides in reducing adult mortality, it cannot afford to be complacent. Rather, it needs to continue efforts to combat the risk factors for cancer and heart disease - the main causes of adult mortality here.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Life expectancy here up over 40 years: study
MOM aims to tackle risk factors for heart disease and cancer
By RACHEL SIM
ADULT mortality - the risk of dying between the ages of 15 and 59 - has declined in Singapore over the past four decades, with life expectancy at birth having risen from 66 in 1970 to 81 this year.
According to a recent study by world-leading medical journal The Lancet, adult mortality here fell 64 per cent for men and 68 per cent for women between 1970 and 2010.
The study's writers suggest that changes in adult mortality worldwide are due to diseases of affluence, socio-economic development, improved health care, social dysfunction after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the HIV epidemic.
It attributes the decline in adult mortality in Singapore to better nutrition as the economy developed, greater control of infectious diseases, increased access to healthcare advances, disease prevention and health promotion.
Adult mortality measures the risk of people dying in the prime of life. It complements other measures of population health such as infant mortality, childhood mortality and life expectancy.
According to Ministry of Health (MOH) figures, the age-standardised death rate for Singapore adults aged 15-59 has halved over the past 20 years, from 223 per 100,000 people in 1989 to 111 per 100,000 people. This translates to a drop of about 3 per cent a year.
The Lancet study covered 187 countries, with Singapore shooting up in the rankings from 72nd for men and 62nd for women in 1970 to 16th for men and 14th for women this year.
MOH says that although Singapore has made tremendous strides in reducing adult mortality, it cannot afford to be complacent. Rather, it needs to continue efforts to combat the risk factors for cancer and heart disease - the main causes of adult mortality here.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
