Year after year

Another year has come and gone, and yet again, we are about to start another!

Approximately 6000 Fijians lost their lives through 2018 and approximately 17,690 babies were born.

We had one birth every 30 minutes and one death every 80 minutes, and now have an estimated population of almost 900,000 people.

Of the 6000 deaths, 1310 died from diabetes, 1150 died from coronary heart disease, 487 died from stroke, 367 died from kidney disease, 288 died from influenza and pneumonia, 170 died from asthma, 162 died from hypertension, 119 died from breast cancer, 105 died from lung disease, 101 died from inflammatory heart, 93 died from congenital anomalies, 87 died from cervical cancer, 69 died from alzheimers and dementia, 66 died from rheumatic heart disease, 64 died from tuberculosis, 63 died from diarrhoea, 62 died from liver cancer, 51 died from liver disease, 44 died from ovarian cancer, 42 died from lung cancer, 39 died from endocrine disorders, 37 died from colon-rectum cancers, 36 died from leukaemia, 33 died from prostate cancer, 23 died from peptic ulcer disease, 21 died from lymphomas, 20 died from stomach cancer, 20 died from meningitis, 18 died from pancreatic cancer, 17 died from uterine cancer,16 died from oral cancer, 14 died from oesophageal cancer, 14 died from epilepsy,11 died from bladder cancer, eight died from appendicitis, and six died from skin cancer.

Suicides, injury, drowning, road traffic accidents, fires, birth trauma, violence, falls, malnutrition, and hiv-aids made up approximately 327 deaths.

To sum up, if approximately 88 per cent of deaths were health related and 6 per cent of deaths were from other causes, that leaves a mere six per cent of the population dying from old age!

Judging by last years’ statistics, we can safely say then that come this time next year, a minimum of 5200 Fijians will die from health related diseases.

When will we ever come to realise that it is our lifestyle and diet that determines our health and wellbeing? We are what we eat and drink, and so far, we’re showing that whatever we’re eating and drinking is making us a very sick nation!

No doubt ignorance is the biggest sickness here and we are in a very bad place. It will have to take a consolidated effort from Government and the private sector not only to make legislation to change the situation, but to also multiply awareness programmes 10 fold.

As a nation, we lose approximately 5800 people to migration and 6000 to health related deaths, but we sure make it up by having enough babies to keep our population growth on a positive.

A population growth, that if not made aware, will also run down the same road of sickness and disease!

May Fiji be blessed with good health for the New Year. Feedback: jyotip@fijisun.com.fj