In the early years of the pandemic, there was a clear dip in the growth of global life expectancy. Child mortality continued to decrease, but it also slowed down.
The first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic reduced human life expectancy by one year and six months, says In the Lancet published extensive research. The fall was greater than previously thought.
– COVID-19 has had a bigger impact on the lifetime of the world’s adult population than any other event for half a century, says the American Research by the IHME Institute lead assistant professor Austin Schumacher.
IHME, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, is a research institute at the University of Washington that evaluates global health statistics and their impact.
The corona pandemic killed almost 16 million people in 2020–2021. The pandemic did not wipe out decades of good development in overall global life expectancy, but it did cause growth to decline.
Men’s mortality increased by 22 percent, women’s by 17 percent. The figures apply to people over 15 years old. Among the oldest people, global mortality increased more than in 70 years, according to a study that also includes previously underreported regions.
Life expectancy fell in 84 percent of the world’s countries. It meant globally that a child born in 2021 can expect 71.7 years of life.
Something for politicians to think about
In spite of COVID-19, the statistics on child mortality had good things to say: although the decrease in child mortality slowed down during the pandemic, half a million fewer children under the age of five died in 2021 than in 2019.
However, researchers remind us that there are still areas in the world where many children do not see their fifth birthday. For every four infants who died in 2021, two were born in sub-Saharan Africa and one in South Asia.
The first moments of life are particularly dangerous, and the situation of newborns has not improved as well as that of other little ones. 6,400 newborns die every day in the world, says World Health Organization.
According to IHME researchers, the results provide food for thought for politicians deciding on the future of healthcare systems. They show how enormous effects new pathogens can have, says Austin Schumacher.
– Now the focus should be on both preparing for the next pandemic and correcting the huge regional contradictions in the world’s health situation, urges the assistant professor Hmwe Hmwe Kyu.