Goa’s Mortality Rate: Cancer, Diabetes, and Heart Disease Account for 47% of Natural Deaths

PANAJI: The Economic Survey for 2024-25, released in the assembly on Wednesday, estimates Goa's population to increase to 15.96 lakh in 2025 from 15.87 lakh the previous year. However, the report paints a concerning picture regarding public health, highlighting a rise in the infant mortality rate and a decline in natural population growth, primarily due to an increase in deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

These lifestyle-related illnesses account for over 47% of natural deaths in the state. The survey indicates that the death rate in Goa was 9.40 per thousand in 2022, which has risen to 9.50 per thousand in 2023. Among the total deaths, 47.44% were attributed to natural causes, with a gender breakdown showing that 42.33% of these fatalities were male and 54.46% female.

In contrast, 6.15% of deaths were due to unnatural causes, including drowning, bites from venomous animals, accidental burns, poisoning, road accidents, and suicide. The report also reveals a troubling increase in the infant mortality rate, which rose to 10.73 deaths per thousand live births in 2023, compared to 8.83 in 2022.

The government has worked hard to mitigate tuberculosis through the TB Mukt Goa initiative, which has successfully upped the TB-related death rate to just 1.25% in 2023. The maternal mortality rate (MMR) tracking the deaths caused by complications during pregnancy and childbirth has also improved from 58 deaths per lakh live births in 2022 to 35 deaths for 2023.

As Goa is rapidly changing demographically it is imperative to understand causes of mortality to improve public health policy to allocate and plan health care utilization. Critics think this is needed to identify risk factors, modify people’s behavior and other strategies to achieve a better quality of life as a state.

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Sai Sindhuja K/MSM)