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Singapore Mortality and Morbidity
The major causes of death in 1986 were heart disease,
accounting for 24 percent of all deaths; cancer, 23
percent;
cerebrovascular disease, (stroke) 11 percent; and
pneumonia, 8
percent. In 1988 two minor outbreaks of dengue fever took
place but
were halted through prompt control of arthropod-borne
microorganisms, and a minor cholera epidemic broke out
among the
inmates of a mental institution. In 1982 the World Health
Organization (WHO) declared Singapore malaria-free, and
161 of the
165 cases of malaria reported in 1987 were determined to
be
imported. In 1987 the most serious epidemic disease was
hepatitis;
752 cases of acute viral hepatitis and 11 deaths were
reported.
Noise-induced deafness and industrial-related skin disease
the
major occupational diseases; there was also some concern
over
exposure of workers to toxic and carcinogenic substances
and to
asbestos. The health authorities paid special attention to
patients
with kidney failure, a condition that which killed some
200 people
a year. The number of deaths reflected inadequate dialysis
facilities and a shortage of organ donors. The 1987 Human
Organ
Transplant Law gave doctors the right to remove the
kidneys of
those killed in accidents unless the victim had objected
in writing
or was a Muslim.
Data as of December 1989
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