Albania is taking steps backwards in the human development index because infant mortality is increasing year by year and on the other hand the health of the population is deteriorating, increasing the lives lost at a young age.

As the number of births declines sharply in recent years, infant mortality has returned to growth. Mortality in this age group is usually a feature of poor countries. INSTAT reported today that, in 2019, the infant mortality rate is 10.3 per 1 thousand live births versus 8.9 for live births in 2018.

The main causes of infant mortality (under 1 year) are "complications in pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period" with 38.2% and "diseases that appear in the period around birth" with 27.6% of this age group in total

Deaths from unknown heart attacks and symptoms increase

In 2019, the number of deaths registered in Albania is 21,937, marking an increase of 133 deaths more than in the previous year (or 0.6%). According to gender, 11,781 is the number of reported deaths for men (1.0% more than in 2018) and 10,155 reported deaths for women (0.2% more than in 2018). The gross mortality rate for 2019 is 768.6 deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants compared to 760.6 in 2018. Referring to the causes of death, the largest share of deaths from "natural causes" 94.1%, followed by Accidents by 2.4%.

In 2019, deaths from the disease group "Blood Circulation Apparatus" account for 53.4% of total deaths. This group of diseases continues to be the leading cause of death, with a mortality rate of 410.0 per 100 thousand inhabitants and compared to the previous year there is an increase of 0.9%.

Within the "Circulatory Apparatus" disease group, the highest mortality rate is from "chronic heart disease" with 29.4%, "cerebrovascular disease" with 28.9% and "ischemic heart disease". �With 23.9%.

Group deaths "symptoms, signs and diseases not well defined", marked an increase of 2.2%, compared to 2018.

In this group, 72.4% of cases are over 70 years old and the specific cause of death "death from old age" is 96.8% of deaths in this group. Deaths from the Tumor group accounted for 16.3% of all deaths, ranking third in terms of the number of deaths (from diseases).

The mortality rate for this group of diseases is 125.5 per 100 thousand inhabitants and has a decrease of 3.0%, compared to 2018. In the group "Tumors" the highest percentage is occupied by the subgroup of "digestive tract tumors" , by 34.2% and â??respiratory tract tumorsâ? by 25.9%.

Men die from tumors, women from unknown diseases

Mortality by gender The group of diseases of the "circulatory system" are the leading cause of death in both men and women with a mortality rate of 422.6 for men and 397.5 for women per 100,000 inhabitants.

"Tumor" group diseases are the leading cause of death in men with a mortality rate of 159.4 per 100 thousand inhabitants, while for women 91.8 per 100 thousand. Women have the highest mortality rate in the group of "Symptoms, signs and diseases not well defined", 146.4 for women and 117.9 for men, per 100 thousand inhabitants.

Young people die from poisoning, the elderly from tumors

With increasing age and the number of deaths from diseases of the "circulatory system", these diseases are the leading cause of death in the age group over 70 years. "Tumor" group of diseases marks high values in the age group 50-59 years with over 30% of the number of deaths in this age group, while in the age group 40-69 years deaths from tumors are the cause of over 25% of deaths. Traumatic injuries and poisoning are the group with the highest weight in deaths caused for the age group 15-39 years.

Gjirokastra with the highest deaths, Tirana the lowest

According to the counties, the highest gross death rate is observed in the Gjirokastra region with 1245.0 per 100 thousand inhabitants, while the lowest in the Tirana region with 598.3.

The region of Berat has the highest value of the gross mortality rate per group of diseases "Diseases of the circulatory system" with 534.1, while the region of Durrës has the lowest value with 345.4 per 100 thousand inhabitants.

Referring to the group "Tumor" disease in 2019, the highest gross death rate is in the region of Gjirokastra and Korca respectively with 215.2 and 175.4, while the lowest in the region of Tirana and Durres with 94.5 and 115.4 deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants of relevant counties.

In 2019, mortality per group of major diseases for each county maintains the same structure, it is noteworthy that in the county of Gjirokastra and Elbasan deaths from "Symptoms, signs and well-defined diseases" account for over 20 percent of deaths in these counties.

Source: Shqiptarja.com