Heart attacks took 26 lives a day in Mumbai, cancer 25 in 2022

Mumbai: Heart attacks killed roughly 26 Mumbaikars every day in 2022, according to data gathered from the civic health department through a reply to a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Another 25 Mumbaikars succumbed daily due to complications from various cancers.

The RTI disease-wise cause of deaths in 2022 also showed that the 'COVID effect' on Mumbai's death charts has considerably reduced. COVID, which claimed maximum lives in 2020 (10,289) and 2021 (11,105) in Mumbai, caused 1,891 deaths in 2022.

The waning 'COVID effect' is also reflected in the total annual deaths in the metropolis. If the total deaths were 1.11 lakh and 1.08 lakh in 2020 and 2021, respectively, the total dropped to 94,538 in 2022. "The 2022 deaths are closer to the figures in 2018 (92,041) and 2019 (90,339)," said a civic doctor.

The contribution of the other big killer, tuberculosis, to Mumbai's death charts has also been reducing with every passing year: 3,281 deaths were caused due to TB in 2022 as against 4,940 in 2018. "There is now better TB medication and better tracking of patients. These factors result in fewer deaths now as compared to a decade back," said BMC executive health officer Dr Mangala Gomare.

However, south Mumbai resident Chetan Kothari, who filed the RTI with the BMC public health department, said the death data isn't adequately classified. "We got classification for only about 30,000 deaths, and the cause for 60,555 deaths has been mentioned as 'other diseases'," he said. When asked about this, Dr Gomare said classification for each death is available with her department. "But only diseases with the maximum toll are usually mentioned," she said.

The 2022 RTI dataset has given out cause of death as mentioned in the person's death certificate. The BMC reply to Kothari has the following caveat: "These deaths are reported as per the cause of death certificate issued by treating doctors, including general practitioners. The cause of death is not confirmed in all these causes based on testing reports, other morbidities and other infections".

"For the last few years, the BMC has been holding training sessions for housemen in public hospitals as well as general physicians on how to fill up the MCCD (medical certification of cause of death),'' she said, adding the 2022 data reflects an improvement in the process. Dr Gomare said heart diseases have always been the largest cause of death. "However, doctors who fill death certificates mention 2 or 3 causes, including a past TB infection or cancer. We hope the training sessions will improve data collection further."

The biggest worry in Mumbai is the age of onset of heart problems is getting younger as compared to, say, two decades ago. Dr Prafulla Kerkar, professor emeritus in cardiology at KEM Hospital, Parel, said heart problems have always been the leading cause of death globally. "However, we are now seeing risk factors among younger people," he said. Urbanisation has resulted in people "walking less" and eating unhealthy. "People get out of homes and onto AC vehicles. People order food when they want and proportions are bigger".