Cancer still Scotland's biggest killer

The General Register Office for Scotland's annual review showed that 15,323 people died of cancer last year (28 per cent) of deaths, a slight increase on the 15,187 recorded in 2009.

Registrar General Duncan Macniven said death rates from cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke in Scotland are well above the rates for the other parts of the UK.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "One in three people will develop cancer during their life but the good news is that more people are living with and beyond cancer in Scotland. There is evidence that our lifestyle choices and our ageing population are resulting in increasing cases of cancer.

"That is why this Government is taking strong action to help people adopt healthy lifestyles.

"Published online in late 2011, the Better Cancer Care Progress Report recognises the significant improvements made to cancer services in Scotland and outlines a clear way forward to ensure continued services development."

Coronary heart disease was the second biggest killer, with 8,138 people dying from the illness in 2010, 15 per cent of all deaths. Over 6,800 people died of respiratory system diseases such as pneumonia, while strokes caused 4,764 of all deaths.

The number of deaths caused by coronary heart disease fell from an average 29% in 1980-82 to 15 per cent in 2010. But those caused by cancer rose from 22 per cent to 28 per cent.

In 2010 there were 1,318 alcohol-related deaths, up 3% compared with 1,282 in 2009.

These figures do not include deaths caused by road accidents, falls, fires, suicide or violence involving people who had been drinking.

The General Register Office also charts deaths caused by hospital-acquired illnesses: 65 people died as a result of Clostridium difficile, 74 fewer than the previous year, while deaths in which MRSA was an underlying cause increased by one, from 24 to 25.