HONG KONG, June 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Cancer was listed as Taiwan's top killer in 2004, remaining as the leading cause of death in Taiwan for the 23rd year in a row, according to reports reaching here from Taipei on Tuesday.

    It was followed by nine other top killers -- heart disease, stroke, diabetes, accidents, pneumonia, chronic liver disease, kidney disease, suicide and hypertension, according to a local medical department said.

    A total of 36,357 Taiwan people died of cancer last year, with liver cancer and lung cancer claiming about 40 percent of those lives.

    The department said the order of the top 10 did not change muchfrom the previous year. The only changes were that heart disease and stroke switched places, while pneumonia and chronic liver disease switched spots.

    More than 133,000 Taiwan people died in 2004, marking a 2.9-percent increase over the figure for the previous year. And 75 percent of the deaths were caused by one of the top 10 killers, the department said.

    In 2004, the number of suicides has been steadily increasing, from a rate of 6.24 out of every 100,000 people in 1994 to 15.31 per 100,000 people last year, the department said. Enditem