Europe Asia News

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world in 2020, it quickly became the leading cause of death globally and reduced overall life expectancy. In 2021, newborns could expect to live an average of 71.7 years.

By 2023, however, COVID-19 had dropped to the 20th leading cause of death, behind several chronic diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, and neonatal disorders. Global life expectancy rose to 73.8 years.

According to research published in the medical journal The Lancet, chronic diseases account for nearly two-thirds of deaths and illnesses worldwide, led by heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Risk factors such as obesity, smoking, and air pollution play a major role in the rise of chronic illnesses. Researchers estimate that addressing these could prevent nearly half of all deaths and disabilities worldwide.

Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the U.S.-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), said: “The rapid growth of the world’s aging population and evolving risk factors mark a new era of global health challenges.”

Murray’s team, working with global collaborators, analyzed data from 375 diseases and injuries and 88 risk factors across 204 countries and regions between 1990 and 2023.

They compiled data from five major European countries — France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In 2023, heart disease was the leading cause of death in all of them except France, where lung cancer ranked first.

Life expectancy in these five European countries remains much higher than the global average — ranging from 80.9 years in Germany to 83.2 years in Spain.

Researchers also raised concerns about rising death rates among youth and young adults in North and Latin America (due to suicide, drugs, and alcohol) and in sub-Saharan Africa (due to infectious diseases and accidents).

Murray called the findings a “wake-up call” for governments and health leaders to “respond swiftly and strategically to the troubling trends reshaping public health needs.”