In a message issued on the occasion of World Health day, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan has said that in the age of global trade and travel, new and existing diseases can cross national borders and endanger collective security, and that the only way to prevent them from spreading is to strengthen cooperation between developed and developing countries, the WHO Croatia Office said earlier this week.
According to data from the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ), the leading causes of death in Croatia are ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, heart insufficiency, and malignant tumours.
The Health and Social Welfare Ministry has said that many illnesses appeared several years after the end of the war in 1995, probably as a consequence of stress and the resulting weakened immune system.
In 1994, Croatia recorded 200,000 more diseases than in 1990. Ten years later, the situation has not improved, with 53% of the population dying of heart and cardiovascular conditions.
In numerous public health drives in recent years, experts have pointed out that as many as 80% of heart attacks and brain strokes can be prevented by eliminating the biggest risk factors -- insufficient physical activity, obesity, unhealthy diet, smoking, high blood pressure, and stress.
Data from the HZJZ Cancer Registry show that 19,128 persons were diagnosed with invasive cancer (excluding skin cancer) in 2004, which was 4,242 more cases than in 1994. Of this figure, 10,306 were men and 8,822 were women. That same year 12,287 persons died of cancer, against 10,325 in 1994. Lung cancer was the most frequent cause of death among men and breast cancer among women.
Still, cardiovascular diseases continue to be the leading cause of death, with 26,000 deaths in 2005, of which 57% were women and 43% were men.