Why Germany has the world's third-highest death rate?

 Why Germany has the world's third-highest death rate

Germany has the third-highest death rate in the world, according to a recent study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO researchers analyzed data from 194 countries and found that Germany had 883 deaths per 100,000 people in 2016. They also identified the three leading causes of these fatalities, including cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and road accidents.

Heart disease

• Every 27 seconds a person dies from cardiovascular disease in Germany. The leading cause of death in Germany, heart disease alone accounted for nearly one in three deaths (31 per cent) and is also among the most costly diseases worldwide with an estimated cost of nearly $64 billion.

• Of that cost, almost 50 per cent comes from in-patient hospital services and 30 per cent is due to medication costs. Poor diet, physical inactivity and smoking are all risk factors contributing to heart disease deaths.

•  Risk factors can be changed through prevention efforts like getting regular exercise and quitting smoking, while chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol can be managed through early detection measures. It’s not just about drugs but preventing them entirely by addressing lifestyle factors that lead to preventable causes of cardiovascular disease mortality.

Cancer

• Roughly one in three Germans will die of cancer, according to a 2015 report by German news magazine Der Spiegel.

•  The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that some 17.1 million new cancer cases were diagnosed worldwide in 2012, leading to some 8.2 million deaths -- while 16% of deaths were caused by cancers in 2008, just 11% of them were caused by cancer. Smoking is one of many factors which increase your risk of getting cancer, but genetics is also important. 

• And unfortunately, there’s no way to tell whether you’re genetically predisposed until it’s too late.

Infectious diseases

Why are infectious diseases so common in some countries? In many cases, they're caused by a lack of clean water and good hygiene—which sounds like something we solved centuries ago.

 But in developing countries, these problems remain critical: clean water isn't always readily available, public sanitation is an issue and people often have poor hygiene habits (like not washing their hands after using public toilets). All of these things put people at a greater risk for disease. Bacteria, viruses and parasites spread from person to person can cause illnesses that can be easily prevented. Diseases like diarrhoea (as well as respiratory infections), for example, are largely caused by poor access to clean water and sanitation.