Helen Branswell
Canadian · 69 years old · Died 13 October 2026
Award-winning infectious disease reporter for STAT and The Canadian Press
Cause of death
Complications from cancer
Helen Branswell was a Canadian journalist who spent many years at The Canadian Press, turning to medical reporting after the 2003 SARS outbreak in Toronto. She joined STAT at its launch in 2015 as its infectious disease and global health reporter, covering influenza, Ebola, polio and COVID-19. She won the George Polk Award for Public Service and the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist with colleagues for early COVID-19 coverage. STAT reported that she died in hospital in Ottawa on October 13 at the age of 69. Her sister said the cause was complications from cancer.
How common is cancer (all types)?
Helen Branswell died of complications from cancer. Globally, cancer (all types) kills 10,000,000 people every year. That is 27,397 per day, or roughly one person every 3 seconds. It accounts for 16% of all deaths worldwide.
Deaths / year
10,000,000
Deaths / day
27,397
Deaths / hour
1,142
Deaths / second
0.32
Share of all global deaths
Risk factors for cancer (all types)
Since Helen Branswell died
Live count since 13 October 2026
Total deaths worldwide since then
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Deaths from same cause since then
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