In 2000, the total mortality rate was 439.5 per 100.000 population: 72.5 per 100.000 population was due to communicable diseases including nutritional and reproductive disorders; non-communicable diseases represented a total of 314.6 per 100.000 population. The most frequent causes of death in the latter group were heart disease (15.7%), followed by malignant tumours (12.6%) and diabetes mellitus in third place (10.7%). Mortality rates, however, differ from state to state.⁵² The worst health impairment figures exist in the country’s southern area amongst its 63 indigenous groups. In this region, for instance, life expectancy was 69 years versus 75.3 for the national population in 2000; infant mortality was 58% higher and an indigenous woman’s risk of dying during pregnancy, childbirth or the puerperium was almost three times higher than for a non-indigenous woman.⁵³