Ireland experienced a dramatic improvement in mortality across the 20-year period from 1985 to 2005, according to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Heart attacks were the main cause of death in nearly two out of every 10 deaths for men and women in Ireland in 1985, and that rate reduced to just one out of every 10 deaths in 2005.
The crude death rate per 100,000 of population stood at a “very high level” at 938.2 in 1985 and had reduced by 4.5 per cent to 895.8 in 1995, the CSO figures show.
The following 10-year period witnessed a further 23.7 per cent reduction in the rate, where it stood at 683.6 deaths per 100,000 of population in 2005.
From 1985 to 2005, there was a 60 per cent decrease in the mortality rate of children aged between five and nine years, while the mortality rate of those aged 15 to 19 years increased by 12.7 per cent.
Over the 20-year period, crude mortality rates in infants and children up to nine years of age saw the largest decreases, while rates in those aged 15-24 years increased.
Heart attacks were the number one cause of death for both males and females in 1985. Nearly one out of every four deaths for males that year was due to a heart attack, while by 2005, this had decreased to one out of every 10 deaths for males.
For females, deaths due to heart attacks accounted for just under two out of every 10 deaths in 1985 and by 2005, this had fallen to one out of every 10 deaths.
While deaths due to heart attacks reduced over the 20-year period, other forms of chronic ischaemic heart disease, which can include deaths due to coronary atherosclerosis and aneurysms, saw an increase in proportion of all deaths.
