Suicide is the main cause of death among men in the 20-35 age group in Cork and Kerry, according to a new report by the Southern Health Board director of public health, Dr Elizabeth Keane.
The report indicates that men are four times more likely to take their own lives than women. Men also choose more violent methods of ending their lives.
Dr Keane also indicates in her annual report that admission rates for alcoholism, schizophrenia and depression are increasing in the region. Men are being admitted to psychiatric hospitals more than women, while single and widowed men face an increased risk of developing a psychiatric illness.
The report indicates that the death rates in the Cork-Kerry region are down on previous figures. However, the region's rates are still higher than the national average. Kerry people are found to have lower mortality figures than their Cork neighbours.
Diseases of the circulatory system accounted for 45 per cent of deaths in the region, with cancer remaining the second-biggest cause of premature mortality.
"Breast cancer is the main cause of death in women suffering from cancer, with 19 per cent dying from the disease," said Dr Keane.
The report says treatments and interventions for patients with heart disease are improving. It also suggests there has been a considerable increase in the number of cardiac procedures carried out in Cork and Kerry in the last decade. However, it says that only 15 per cent of these procedures were being performed on Kerry men and women.
In Cork and Kerry more than one-third of deaths in men under 65 are as a result of heart disease. Overall, there has been a decrease of 25 per cent in mortality rates from heart disease in the past 20 years.
Dr Keane said the report highlighted unacceptable levels of premature death and preventable illness. It also pointed to inequalities in the region's health status which needed to be tackled.