Women and Men in the Caribbean Community

Women and Men in the Caribbean CommunityTable 3.12 Leading causes of mortality among women aged 25-44 years, numberof deaths, percentage and female/male ratio, 1995Source: Mortality data reported toCAREC by Member States.Note: Data are combined for Anguilla,Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas,Barbados, Belize, Dominica, St. Kittsand Nevis, Saint. Lucia, St.Vincentand the Grenadines, and Trinidad andTobago.. . Not applicableRankLeading causes of deathNumberof deathsPer cent oftotal femaledeathsRatio offemale tomale deaths1 AIDS 131 18 0.42 Cancer of the breast 43 6 . .3 Diabetes mellitus 36 5 1.14 Cancer of the cervix 35 5 . .5 Cerebrovascular disease 31 4 0.9All deaths among women 25-44 years 714 39 0.5Table 3.13 Leading causes of mortality among men aged 25-44 years, number ofdeaths, percentage and female/male ratio, 1995Source: Mortality data reported toCAREC by Member States.Note: Data are combined for Anguilla,Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas,Barbados, Belize, Dominica, St. Kittsand Nevis, Saint Lucia, St.Vincentand the Grenadines, and Trinidadand Tobago.RankLeading causes of deathNumberof deathsPer centof maledeathsRatio offemale tomale deaths1 AIDS 315 24 0.42 Homicide 112 8 0.23 Suicide 99 7 0.24 Motor vehicle accidents 82 6 0.25 Ischaemic heart disease 45 3 0.4All deaths among men 25-44 years 1,330 49 0.5Among males, the next three leading causes—homicide, suicide and motor vehicle accidents,all external causes,—jointly accounted for 22 per cent of deaths in this age group; which isalmost as many deaths are due to AIDS. Among women, the leading causes after AIDS andcancer of the breast were diabetes, cancer of the cervix and cerebrovascular disease. Whilediabetes mellitus appeared among the five leading causes of death of women in this age group,it did not appear in the top five causes for men.The prevalence of higher morbidity and mortality due to non-communicable chronic diseases,such as diabetes and cancer of the breast among women, require that preventive measures beput in place to reduce the growth of these diseases. Similar attention should be paid toischaemic heart disease in the case of men.HIV/AIDS More Prevalent among Men than WomenThe CARICOM Region currently has the highest level of prevalence of HIV/AIDS, secondonly to sub-Saharan Africa. The epidemic is largely heterosexual in nature in this part of theglobe (United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, 2000). In the Caribbean as a whole, it isestimated that there are approximately 360,000 adults and children living with AIDS as ofDecember 1999. Among CARICOM countries, this figure was in excess of 47, 000 as of theend of 1999 (United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, 2000).The number of cumulative cases of AIDS for the period 1982-2000, ranges from more than5,000 cases in Jamaica to three cases in Montserrat. Trinidad and Tobago and The Bahamasalso display a significant number of cases of over 3,800. The cumulative number of cases shows40