Chapter 3 - Health
                     
Table 3.2 Causes of deaths in the Regular Armed Forces, numbers and rates 1998-20071,2
Over the ten years 1998 to 2007 there has been little change in the rate of disease-related conditions. Similarly for deaths due to accidents there has been little change over the course of the last ten years. However, deaths as a result of hostile action (killed in action and died of wounds) have increased, reflecting the deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the changing tempo of operations.

  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Total 165 141 147 142 147 173 169 158 190 201
Disease-related conditions 52 40 35 41 40 40 43 45 40 37
    of which                    
        Cancers 32 25 16 24 19 18 22 23 25 27
        Diseases of the circulatory system 13 12 16 9 18 14 18 16 14 6
        Other 7 3 3 8 3 8 3 6 1 4
External causes of injury and poisoning 112 99 111 100 107 133 125 113 147 160
    Deaths due to Accidents 91 70 71 80 89 69 90 71 88 80
        Land Transport Accident 62 43 45 50 65 49 61 53 61 50
        Other 29 27 26 30 24 20 29 18 27 30
    Deaths due to Violence 2 2 4 5 3 39 16 22 49 73
        Killed in Action3 1 1 1 2 - 37 10 21 41 59
        Died of Wounds3 - - - - - 1 - - 6 12
        Other 1 1 3 3 3 1 6 1 2 2
    Suicide and Open verdicts 19 27 36 15 15 25 19 20 10 7
Cause not currently available 1 2 1 1 - - 1 - 3 4
                     
Rate per 100,000 strength 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Total 78 66 71 69 72 82 80 78 96 105
Disease-related conditions 26 20 17 21 21 19 22 22 20 19
    of which                    
        Cancers 16 12 8 12 10 8 11 11 13 14
        Diseases of the circulatory system 6 6 8 5 10 7 9 8 7 3
        Other 4 2 1 4 2 4 2 3 1 2
External causes of injury and poisoning 52 45 53 48 50 63 58 56 74 84
    Deaths due to Accidents 42 31 34 39 42 33 42 35 45 42
        Land Transport Accident 30 19 21 24 30 23 28 26 31 26
        Other 13 12 12 15 12 10 14 9 14 16
    Deaths due to Violence 1 1 2 2 1 18 8 11 25 38
        Killed in Action3 - 1 - 1 - 17 5 10 21 31
        Died of Wounds3 - - - - - - - - 3 6
        Other - - 1 1 1 - 3 - 1 1
    Suicide and Open verdicts 9 13 17 7 7 12 9 10 5 4
Cause not currently available - 1 1 - - - - - 2 2
Source: DASA (Health Information)

1.    Rates have been age and gender standardised to the 2006 Armed Forces population and are expressed per 100,000 strength.

2.    DASA code all cause of death information to the World Health Organisation's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health-related Problems 10th revision (ICD-10).

3.    DASA have included the Joint Casualty Compassionate Cell categories of killed in action and died of wounds which together provide information on the number of Service personnel who have died on operations as a result of hostile action. The term 'killed in action' is used when a battle casualty has died outright or as a result of injuries before reaching a medical facility, whilst 'died of wounds' refers to battle casualties who died of wounds or other injuries after reaching a medical treatment facility.