According to a global press release issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) late on May 24, from 2019 to 2021, the average global life expectancy decreased by up to 1.8 years, and healthy life expectancy dropped by as much as 1.5 years.
The Covid-19 pandemic was significantly related, but it was not the leading cause of death; rather, this distinction belongs to non-communicable diseases.
According to WHO, this decline has erased a decade of progress in life expectancy, bringing the average life expectancy down to 71.4 years and healthy life expectancy down to 61.9 years, equivalent to levels seen in 2012.
Not only life expectancy but also measures to increase healthy life expectancy are noteworthy – (Photo: AI).
The World Health Statistics Report 2024 also highlights the uneven impacts felt around the globe.
Among the regions, the Americas and Southeast Asia were the hardest hit, with life expectancy dropping by about 3 years and healthy life expectancy decreasing by 2.5 years during the years 2019-2021.
In contrast, the Western Pacific region was minimally affected in the first two years of the pandemic, with a life expectancy decrease of less than 0.1 years and a healthy life expectancy drop of 0.2 years.
This epidemiological region is distinct from geographical areas. Notably, Vietnam is classified by WHO as part of the Western Pacific region, which was the least affected.
Life expectancy is simply the number of years a person lives, while healthy life expectancy refers to the number of years a person can live healthily and independently, meaning without limitations on daily activities due to illness or functional decline.
Life expectancy has seen a significant decline over the past decade, primarily during the period from 2019 to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This pandemic was the third leading cause of death globally in 2020 and the second in 2021, with nearly 13 million lives lost during this period.
The latest estimates reveal that, excluding the Africa and Western Pacific regions, Covid-19 ranked among the top five causes of death elsewhere, particularly becoming the leading cause of death in the Americas for both years 2020-2021.
Nevertheless, the leading cause of death in all regions remains non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
The most prominent and deadly diseases within the NCD category include ischemic heart disease and stroke, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and diabetes.
NCDs were the leading cause of death before the pandemic, accounting for 74% of total deaths in 2019. Even during the pandemic, non-communicable diseases continued to account for 78% of deaths not attributed to Covid-19.
Previously, several reports highlighted concerns about this issue, as during the Covid-19 pandemic, management of non-communicable diseases—typically chronic conditions—could be neglected both personally and communally.
Additionally, the world faces a significant and complex problem of a double burden of malnutrition, where undernutrition coexists with overweight and obesity.
In 2022, over 1 billion people aged five and older lived with obesity, while more than half a billion people were underweight. These nutrition-related issues also contributed to the increase in cases and exacerbated the non-communicable disease burden.
According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, this data indicates that alongside numerous advancements that have allowed billions of people better access to healthcare services and enhanced protection against emergencies, this report shows that progress can be very fragile.
This is also one of the reasons why WHO is advocating for a new pandemic agreement to strengthen global health security, while also protecting long-term investments in healthcare and promoting equity within and among countries.
