Although records show the increasing role of endogenous mortality, exogenous causes still represent a serious threat to health in Kuwait, where they accounted for over 40 percent of the total mortality in 1985. This paper is concerned with the spatial distribution of these diseases. It will also help to reflect the influence of various social, economic, and demographic factors on the patterns of distribution.
Mortality rates are calculated for 100, 000 persons of the country's two communities: Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis.
The seventeen major causes of death incorporated by the international classification are adopted and split into two major groups: infections and parasitic diseases, and all other causes excluding cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms and accidents.
Although the role of infectious and parasitic diseases is declining, they were still responsible for nearly 10 percent of total deaths in 1980. Mortality figures were higher among Kuwaitis, and the majority were male.
In some parts of the country, and the Capital governorate in particular, nearly half of the deaths were caused by parasitic diseases. Other major causes are tuberculosis and intestinal infections.
Mortality rates of the remaining exogenous causes run at a level of 40 percent compared with 60 percent in 1970. Death tolls among Kuwaiti nationals are more than twice those of non-Kuwaitis. Mortality figures are highest among Kuwaiti males and non-Kuwaiti females.
The number of deaths is higher in the densely populated areas of both communities, particularly those in remote areas. Diseases of the respiratory system seem to be the major cause of death, especially among Kuwaiti citizens. Other prominent causes of death in some areas are those related to conditions of the perinatal period, congenital anomalies and diseases of the digestive and urinary systems.
View full abstract