SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Heart disease and cancer are the two top killers in the NWT, according to a recent Statistics Canada report.

The federal agency recently released information on the causes of death across Canada in 2007.

Dr. Kami Kandola chief public health officer, said the mortality data is the tip of the iceberg toward preventing or mitigating chronic diseases. - NNSL file photo The following were the NWT's top 10 causes of death in 2007 according to Statistics Canada. Major cardiovascular diseases - 47 Cancer - 36 Non-transport accidents (including drowning, fire and poisoning) - 15 Suicide - 9 Transport accidents - 8 Chronic lower respiratory diseases - 8 Pneumonia - 7 Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis (conditions involving the kidneys) - 5 Cerebrovascular diseases (relating to the brain and its blood vessels) - 5 Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis - 4

It shows there were 174 deaths - 102 males and 72 females - in the NWT that year.

The top three causes of death in the NWT were consistent with the rest of Canada, said Kami Kandola, the chief public health officer with the Department of Health and Social Services.

"The number one cause for mortality is cardiovascular diseases, the number two cause would be cancer and the number three cause would be injuries."

According to the report, 47 people died from major cardiovascular diseases in the NWT, 36 from various forms of cancer and 23 in accidents, both transport and non-transport mishaps.

On the bright side, there were no reported deaths from tuberculosis, malnutrition, influenza or accidental discharge of firearm. (Curiously, the report also noted there were no deaths in the NWT during 2007 due to the "operations of war.")

"The mortality data is the tip of the iceberg," Kandola said. "It flags the problem and then you have to go a bit deeper and look at what are the chronic diseases people are suffering from and what are the ways of preventing or mitigating the impact of these chronic diseases."

For example, she said the NWT's rates for lung cancer, colon cancer and diabetes are higher than the rest of Canada. Plus, the smoking, drinking and obesity rates are also higher, although the rates of physical activity are about the same.

Cathy Menard, who as the NWT's chief coroner examines unexpected deaths, said 91 of the deaths in 2007 were investigated by the coroner's office.

"Stats Canada is just sort of a glimpse or a snapshot of the numbers," Menard said, adding the coroner's annual report goes into more detail.

For example, she said the Statistics Canada report shows there were nine suicides in the NWT in 2007.

"In our suicide cases, alcohol was involved in all of them, except for one case," Menard said.

When worked out to a rate per 100,000 people (even though there are only about 43,000 people in the NWT), the suicide rate in the NWT is significantly higher than the national rate.

"We've always known we're double the national average," Menard said.

As for the 23 accidents in 2007, she said 13 of them were alcohol related.

The StatsCan reported also listed two homicides in the NWT in 2007.

"That's pretty much the norm for the Northwest Territories," Menard said. "They only account for maybe a small percentage of our caseload every year, thank goodness."

Both Menard and Kandola believe the Statistics Canada mortality numbers are valuable.

"It helps shape what your priorities are," Kandola said. "You link that with what are the diseases that our current population has."

She also said the numbers can help develop strategies to prevent injuries from such things as motor vehicle accidents, fires and boating mishaps.

Menard said it is useful to compare where the NWT stands in relation to the rest of Canada.

"The stats offer us all sorts of unique information to look at and to keep the pulse of what's going on in not only our jurisdictions, but in jurisdictions across Canada," she said. "I think it's really important."

While dozens of different causes of death are listed for the NWT in the StatsCan report, Menard said there are many other ways to die.

"In the international code of diseases, there are over 17,000 causes of death," she said, adding that includes accidents, natural causes and many other reasons.

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