Image: (Volker Weihbold)
In the first two years of the pandemic, 2020 and 2021, average global life expectancy fell by 1.6 years, according to a study by hundreds of scientists published yesterday in the journal The Lancet. For the study, the scientists evaluated data from the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).
“For adults all over the world, the corona pandemic had more serious consequences than any other event in half a century, including conflicts and natural disasters,” said IHME researcher Austin Schumacher, who was a leading participant in the study.
Men more affected
According to the study, the death rate among men and boys aged 15 and over rose by 22 percent in 2020/2021 and by 17 percent among women and girls. The places where life expectancy fell the most in the Corona years include Peru, Bolivia and Mexico City.
The decline in life expectancy is all the more striking as the global average lifespan has steadily increased over the past few decades. Unlike adults, mortality among small children under the age of five continued to decline in the Corona years, according to the IHME analysis. Accordingly, around half a million fewer small children died worldwide in 2021 than in 2019.
In the longer term, despite the Corona setback, people are still living significantly longer than before. While the global average life expectancy was 49 years in 1950, it was 72 years in 2021, explained the IHME researchers. However, humanity must prepare for “the next pandemic” and combat “the great inequalities between countries in health care.”
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Source: Nachrichten
