an In The Media Appearance
"Life expectancy climbs worldwide but people spend more years living with illness and disability" - EurekAlert!. 08/26/2015
The Global Burden of Disease 2013 study, which analyzes disease and disability prevalence for 188 countries from 1990 to 2013, finds that while global life expectancy has risen by more than 6 years in this period, the growth in healthy life expectancy has not kept pace. Healthy life expectancy accounts for nonfatal conditions, calculating years lived with disability and years lost due to premature mortality (disability-adjusted life years, or DALYs). The GBD researchers find that – on average, across the globe – people are living more years with illness and disability. And the countries with the highest rates of DALYs are among the poorest in the world. In 2013, the leading global causes of health loss, as measured by DALYs, were ischemic heart disease, lower respiratory infections, stroke, low back and neck pain, and road injuries – conditions that can be improved with intervention and education. Christopher Murray says: “Looking at healthy life expectancy and health loss at the country level can help guide policies to ensure that people everywhere can have long and healthy lives no matter where they live.”