According to World Health Organization, the causes of death may also be classified in terms of preventable risk factors, for instance smoking, unhealthy diet, and sexual behavior—which contribute to a number of different diseases. Interestingly, these risk factors are usually not recorded directly on death certificates. Leading causes of preventable death worldwide are Hypertension, smoking tobacco, high cholesterol, malnutrition, sexually transmitted diseases, poor diet, overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, alcohol, indoor air pollution from solid fuels, unsafe water and poor sanitation.
Let’s see the Preventable causes of death data for United States ::
| Cause | Number | Percent of total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoking tobacco | 435,000 | 18.1% | |
| Being overweight and obesity | 111,909 | 4.6% | |
| Alcohol | 85,000 | 3.5% | |
| Infectious diseases | 75,000 | 3.1% | |
| Toxic agents including toxins, particulates and radon | 55,000 | 2.3% | |
| Preventable medical errors in hospitals | 44,000 to 98,000 | ||
| Traffic collisions | 43,000 | 1.8% | |
| Firearms deaths | 29,000 | 1.2% | |
| Sexually transmitted infections | 20,000 | 0.8% | |
| Drug abuse | 17,000 | 0.7% |
From this chart, you can see that Smoking tobacco is the single most important preventable risk to human health. This is only factor where we pay for our death 🙂 Isn’t it?