Avoidable deaths in Greenland 1968-1985: variations by region and period

The concept of avoidable deaths suggests that certain deaths ought not occur in a given society because it is possible to prevent or treat the disease or condition. A list of avoidable deaths is time and community specific as it reflects the socioeconomic conditions, professional medical capacity and political will of the society. A list of avoidable deaths is proposed for Greenland which includes, inter alia, meningitis, lung cancer, acute respiratory infections, suicides, boat accidents and alcohol related diseases and accidents. All were considerably more common in Greenland than in Denmark and several showed an increasing time trend. The regional patterns were particularly clear for infectious diseases and accidents, which showed low mortality rates in the capital and other towns and high mortality rates in settlements and in the remote East Greenland, while mortality rates from suicides and alcohol related diseases were high in the capital and East Greenland and low in West Greenlandic settlements. It is concluded that further studies on preventable diseases and causes of death, in particular certain infectious diseases, accidents and suicides, are needed.