The first of its kind, the ‘Avoidable Mortality Report’ showed that 180 deaths were due to avoidable causes in 2015 – 63% of which were among males.

Of these deaths, the majority were due to cancers and other non-cancerous tissue growths.

The statistics suggest that 155 could have been prevented through better public health, while 86 resulted from ‘amenable causes:’ those that are treatable through good quality healthcare.

Cardiovascular diseases – particularly Ischaemic heart disease – accounted for more than a third of these.

Each avoidable death saw an average of 23 years of potential life lost.

According to Martin Knight, the majority of these deaths were in men, as, “…the burden of disease and death is unequally distributed towards males.”

“[There are] two factors at play – men are less likely to seek help, or seek help later than women. A higher proportion of men engage in behaviours that increase risk of disease,” he told Express.

While Jersey’s avoidable mortality rates were largely in line with the UK, they were significantly lower than Wales.

Nonetheless, a 2013 study found that Britain’s five-year survival rate was lower than the European average in 90% of the most common cancers, with Britain’s ability to prevent avoidable deaths in under 75s worse than every other European country with the exception of Malta, Ireland and Greece.

The new figures, Mr Knight says, emphasise the need for the Island, “…to take a longer term perspective on the health of our Islanders and put more support towards prevention approaches.”

“There are four key behavioural risk factors for preventing disease and death, including our diet, tobacco, alcohol and physical inactivity.

“We need to do increasingly more to support healthier choices but also to recognise that these choices are made within the environment in which we are born, grow work and live, there is therefore a government responsibility to do more to make healthier choices easier.”