There are no WHO World Health Report (2003) figures for adult mortality in the Palestinian Authority.⁴⁰ In 2004, the estimated crude death rate in the Gaza Strip was 3.95 deaths/1000 population and in the West Bank 4.07 deaths/1000 population.

Life expectancy at birth (total population) in the Gaza Strip is 71.5 years (males 70.31 years/ females 72.94 years) and in the West Bank life expectancy at birth (total population) is 72.88 years (males is 71.1 years; for females 74.7 years (Table 7).^41,42 Healthy life expectancy in 2003 was estimated as 70.7 years for males and 73.8 years for females.

Table 7 Country death rates and life expectancy at birth (total population)

The Palestinian Authority developed the Cancer Registration Project in 1998, with the support of MECC, the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).⁴⁴

In the years 1998 and 1999, a total of 3,474 new cancer cases were registered across Gaza and the West Bank (1,744 cases in 1998 and 1,730 cases in 1999). In 2003, cancer was one of the major causes of death (9% of total deaths). The primary causes of death were cardiovascular and heart disease (56.2% of total deaths).⁴⁵ The commonest type of cancer is breast cancer (454 cases) and lymphoma (117 cases). In men the commonest cancer is lung (224 cases). In women, breast cancer is commonest. Cancer incidence mean by age is males in the West Bank 50.5, females in West Bank 51.1; in Gaza, male incidence is 52.4 years and female 49 years. There were 304 new paediatric cancer cases registered between 1998-1999, of which the commonest was malignant lymphoma and Hodgkin ’s Disease (67 cases) and acute lymphoid leukaemia (60 cases).⁴⁶

There are no figures for the rate of HIV/AIDS infection or deaths in the Palestinian Authority.