BBS: Cardiac arrest No 1 killer in Bangladesh in 2020

Cardiac arrest was the number one killer in Bangladesh in 2020, claiming the lives of 180,408 people, which is 21.1% of the country’s total 8,54,253 deaths during the year.

Statistics and Informatics Division Secretary Mohammad Yamin Chowdhury revealed the data in a press conference at Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) Bhaban in Dhaka on Wednesday afternoon.

In 2019, some 147,259 people died of cardiac arrests, which was 17.9% of the total 822,841 deaths in the country, he said.

Bedsides, 8,248 people died of Covid-19 in 2020, said Yamin Chowdhury.

According to the BBS data, stroke claimed 85,360 lives, the second highest, while respiratory diseases killed 73,839 people, the third highest, during the period.

Besides, 43,204 people died of heart diseases, 34,694 of pneumonia, 29,850 of liver cancer, 28,017 of kidney diseases, 27,755 of high blood pressure, 25,006 of diabetes, 13,092 of paralysis, 12,306 in road accidents, 10,997 of jaundice, 10,474 in incidents of drowning, 10,212 of liver cirrhosis, and 11,259 people killed themselves.

Apart from the major causes, dengue claimed 786 lives in 2020, which was 2,360 in 2019.

In 2020, 1,833 people lost their lives to dengue, while lightning claimed 393 lives.