16% of all deaths recorded in Guernsey between 2022 and 2024 could have been avoided.
Public Health said that rate is “considerably lower than that of England” but it will now use the data collated through the Mortality Trends Report to try and drive further change around encouraging healthier lifestyles.
“Examining causes of death at population level is important because it can reveal factors which are having tangible effects on local people and their families by shortening lives, and many of those are modifiable,” said Dr Nicola Brink, Director of Public Health.
“The report tells us, for example, that around one in six deaths are preventable or treatable. Giving up smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, staying physically active, preventing disease through vaccination, increasing usage of screening services and drinking alcohol responsibly are factors that work for prevention.
“The report also confirms the negative effects of alcohol in our community as alcohol-specific deaths are shown to be one of the top contributory causes of years of life lost. Reducing this needs to be a serious ambition for our islands going forward, and we are committed to working towards that goal.”
Key findings from the report include confirmation that the number of deaths per year from 2005 to 2024 has increased. Public Health said this is expected given the number of older people within our population.
The four leading causes of death in Guernsey for the three-year period 2022–24 were neoplasms (27%), circulatory diseases (26%), respiratory diseases (11%) and mental and behavioural disorders (11%).
The majority of deaths which fall under ‘mental and behavioural disorders’ are dementia and Alzheimer’s deaths. The proportion of deaths in this category increased to 14.1%, continuing a 20-year increasing trend said Public Health. This equates to 120 people dying of dementia and Alzheimer’s between 2022 and 2024.
An estimated 10% of deaths were caused by smoking while alcohol-specific mortality accounted for less than 1% of deaths.
The report also confirmed that infant and child mortality rates in Guernsey are “low and stable”.
Avoidable and preventable deaths
Out of the 1,9720 deaths registered in Guernsey and Alderney between 2022 and 2024, 309 were considered avoidable by Public Health.
That gives an average of 103 people dying per year, which could have been avoided said Dr Brink and her team.
Of these 309 avoidable deaths, 94 (30%) were considered treatable and 215 (70%) preventable.
More than one-third (38%) of avoidable deaths were linked to neoplasms and around a quarter to diseases of the circulatory system (26%).
A confirmed figure for the number of suicides in Guernsey and Alderney between 2022 and 2024 can’t be provided yet as there are some outstanding inquests still open from last year, but the number of deaths by suicide is considered to have reduced.
The number of suicides or ‘injury of undetermined intent’ peaked between 2019 and 2021 with a rate of 13.8 deaths per 100,000 people.
It is considered likely that this has reduced to a maximum of 10.7 per 100,000 in 2022–24.
The pattern of more suicide deaths among males than females continues.