Circulatory disease was the largest single cause of death in 2005, averaging 310 deaths per 100,000 people for the UK as a whole. Cancer was the next most common cause, with an age-standardised mortality rate of 239. Regional differences were slightly more marked for circulatory disease than for cancer.
Newly diagnosed cases of lung cancer in 2002 to 2004 were lowest in the South West at three-quarters of the UK level – 78 per cent for males and 75 per cent for females. The highest incidences were in Scotland (36 per cent and 50 per cent above the UK levels for males and females respectively) and the North East (35 per cent and 47 per cent above).
The South West had the highest incidence of melanoma of the skin, around 1.5 times the UK average (60 per cent above for males and 42 per cent above for females). This compared with London, the lowest region, at 39 per cent below the UK for males and 45 per cent below for females.
The South West also had the highest incidences of breast cancer (10 per cent above the UK) and prostate cancer (22 per cent above) in the UK. London had the lowest incidence of breast cancer (8 per cent below the UK average).
In many areas the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) grew in the ten years to 2006. London had by far the highest rate in 2006 with 40 new TB cases per 100,000 people living in the region, more than twice the second highest rate of 19 per 100,000 in the West Midlands. However, the increase in the rate in London since 1996 was 28 per cent, close to the UK average (23 per cent). In contrast, the TB rate in Scotland reduced by over 30 per cent between 1996 and 2006 to 7 notifications per 100,000 population.
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