One in three deaths in EU avoidable if optimal care was available

The European Union's statistical agency says that one out of three deaths in the 28-nation bloc would be avoidable if optimal health care was available.

Eurostat said Tuesday that the situation was at its worst in Romamia, where 49.4 percent of all deaths were deemed avoidable "in the light of current medical knowledge and technology." France came out best with only 23.8 percent of deaths considered avoidable.

In the bloc of 508 million, 1.7 million people under 75 died in 2013, the last year where statistics were available. The majority of preventable deaths were caused by heart attacks at 32 percent, ahead of strokes with 16 percent. Colorectal cancer and breast cancer followed.

The six nations at the bottom of the list all hailed from eastern Europe.

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