Cancer kills more Kiwis than anything else

Cancer is New Zealand’s leading cause of death, according to the latest New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS) official figures.

There were 8,027 deaths from cancer in 2003, accounting for almost one in three deaths.

“The increased risk of cancer in older people means New Zealand’s aging population and population growth accounts for most of the increase in new cancer registrations,” says Ministry of Health principal advisor cancer control, Dr John Childs.

The report shows Māori are more likely than non-Māori to die from cancer.

Māori women were more than four-and-a-half-times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-Māori women, Māori men were more than two-and-a-half-times more likely.