Comparing leading causes of mortality from 2011 to 2021 in India

Introduction: The ranking lists used by most countries (1) for leading causes of deaths (CODs) comprise broad category such as communicable; non-communicable and injuries. To provide specific information; the World Health Organization (WHO) and the institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) proposed lists that splitting broad categories into specific categories. We examined the changes in ranking of leading causes of deaths in India 2011 and 2021 between WHO and IHME data. The objectives of this study are 1. To discuss and compare the top 10 causes of death in India in 2011 and 2021 based on data from WHO and IHME 2. To evaluate the trends in crude death rates for top 10 causes of death identified by WHO between 2011 and 2021 3. To assess the changes in Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) for the top 10 causes of deaths according to WHO data from 2011-2021. The aim of this study is to provide the shift of number of deaths from 2011 to 2021 (a decade) in India. 

Methods: The data was obtained from WHO and IHME regarding the top 10 leading causes of deaths in India as well as changes in deaths per 100;000 population between 2011 and 2021. collected the number of deaths from the top 10 causes of death listed by the world health organization for the year of 2011 and 2021 then calculate the Crude death rate for the data and compared those data and collect the DALY of top 10 causes of death for the year of 2011 and 2021 then compute the absolute change and percentage 

Results: In both WHO and IHME data; the top seven causes of death in India remained consistent between 2011 and 2021; with COVID-19 emerging as the leading cause in 2021. Non-communicable diseases such as ischemic heart disease; COPD; stroke; and diabetes showed an increase in crude death rates 8.95 to 11.09; 5.94 to 7.05; 4.52 to 5.35; 1.58 to 2.31 respectively and Disability adjusted life years increase over 1.03 million; 5.58 million; 4.41 million; and 5.33 million respectively over the decade. In contrast; communicable diseases like diarrheal diseases; tuberculosis; and lower respiratory infections exhibited a significant decline. COVID-19 contributed the largest DALY increase in 2021; reflecting its severe impact. Overall; non-communicable diseases saw a rise; while communicable diseases decreased in both crude death rates and DALYs. 

Conclusion: This study compared the leading causes of death in india between 2011 and 2021; based on WHO and IHME data; focusing on changes in crude death rates and DALYs for the top 10 causes. This revels the transition of the disease burden of non-communicable disease and injury dominating the communicable diseases. Ischemic heart disease; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); and stroke have become the most significant contributors to mortality; reflecting the rising prevalence of lifestyle-related risk factors. In contrast; communicable diseases like tuberculosis and diarrheal diseases have shown a significant decline. These findings call for intensified public health efforts focused on NCD prevention; along with policies aimed at mitigating the effects of emerging health crises like COVID-19.