[On the face of it, the continual rise in life expectancy at birth is caused primarily by the following factors: higher level of access to tapped (filtered) water and better sanitation; massive immunisation programmes; availability of more balanced and nutritious food; access to better medical facilities including newer diagnostic tools, a broad range of antibiotics and a panoply of life saving drugs and a rise in number of qualified medical practitioners, care givers and outlets for outdoor and indoor treatments.]
I/II. http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/indians-living-longer-healthier-lives-study-114121800362_1.html Indians living longer, healthier lives: study *Press Trust of India | Washington * *December 18, 2014* Last Updated at 13:10 IST India <http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=India>has made great strides in reducing both child and adult mortality since 1990, according to a new study that found adults and children in the country are living longer and healthier lives than two decades ago. The first-ever journal publication of country-specific cause-of-death data for 188 countries found people are living much longer worldwide than they were two decades earlier, as death rates from infectious diseases and cardiovascular disease have fallen. Given the size of India's population in particular, and projections that it may soon become the world's most populous country, mortality trends there have global implications, researchers said. In 2013, India accounted for 19 per cent, or 10.2 million, of the world's deaths. The country has made great strides in reducing both child and adult mortality since 1990. The average yearly rates of decline in mortality have been 3.7 per cent per year for children and 1.3 per cent per year for adults. Between 1990 and 2013, life expectancy at birth increased from 57.3 years to 64.2 years for males and from 58.2 years to 68.5 years for females. "It's very encouraging that adults and children in India are living longer and healthier lives," said Dr Jeemon Panniyammakal of the Public Health Foundation of India and a co-author of the study published in The Lancet. "But India's growing influence on global health means we must do more to address the diseases that kill people prematurely," said Panniyammakal. Panniyammakal was part of an international consortium of more than 700 researchers led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. Causes of death vary widely by country, but, at the global level, drug use disorders and chronic kidney disease account for some of the largest per cent increases in premature deaths since 1990, the study found. II. http://www.wsj.com/articles/global-life-expectancy-increases-by-about-six-years-1418861100 Global Life Expectancy Increases by About Six YearsStudy in Lancet Says Rise Is Result of Dramatic Health-Care Advances ENLARGE By GAUTAM NAIK Updated Dec. 18, 2014 3:29 p.m. ET Global life expectancy for men and women has increased by about six years over the past two decades, according to one of the most comprehensive studies of global health done so far. The rise in global life expectancy is mainly the result of dramatic advances in health care. In richer countries longer lifespans are spurred by a big drop in deaths related to heart disease, while poorer countries have seen big declines in the death of children from ailments such as pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria. But there are worrying signs, too. While global deaths from infectious disease dropped by about 25% over the past two decades, the number of deaths linked to noncommunicable diseases has jumped by about 40%. Noncommunicable maladies, such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes, tend to be chronic in nature and often more expensive to treat. "That's a very profound shift and it will affect how countries deal with" the future health of their populations, said Christopher Murray, lead author of the study and director of the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, or IHME, at the University of Washington, which oversaw the analysis. The study was published Wednesday in the journal Lancet. It is part of an exhaustive analysis known as the Global Burden of Disease Study done by an international team of more than 700 researchers led by the institute. It was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The study analyzes yearly deaths from 240 different causes in 188 countries from 1990 to 2013. The last such report was published in 2010. Governments use the data to make policy decisions; scientists use the data to decide what areas of medical research to pursue; and donors use the data to decide which areas of global health they should support. Life expectancy is rising globally thanks to disease prevention and medical advancements. In which countries are lives being cut short? WSJ's Jason Bellini has #TheShortAnswer. The Lancet study "is based on an unprecedented amount of information that has been crunched using very sophisticated tools," said Igor Rudan, global health expert at the University of Edinburgh, who wasn't involved in the Lancet study. "In an information-based world, whoever controls the information controls the agenda." The World Health Organization compiles similar data. Its last update of health statistics was published earlier this year and spanned the 2000-12 period. ENLARGE Although it lacked the breadth and depth of the IHME analysis, the WHO's number-crunching also concluded that the average global life expectancy had risen by six years since 1990. "The big picture is generally similar, with the exception of historical trends in Africa where they're more pessimistic than we are," said Colin Mathers, who oversees global health statistics at the WHO and is familiar with IHME's analysis. The WHO data, for example, has lower figures for African deaths linked to malaria and HIV/AIDS. The latest IHME study estimates that global life expectancy increased by 5.8 years for men and 6.6 years for women. If the pattern of the past two decade continues, a girl born in 2030 will live to be 85.3 years old on average, while a boy born then will live to be 78.1 years on average. In many places, better disease-prevention and treatment efforts have made a big dent in mortality rates. For example, deaths from measles and diarrhea fell by 83% and 51%, respectively. ***In India, which is on track to become the world's most populous country in less than two decades, life expectancy at birth rose from 57.3 years to 64.2 years for males, and from 58.2 years to 68.5 years for females, according to the Lancet study.*** [Emphasis added.] ***The exception is southern sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV/AIDS has shortened lifespans by an average of five years since 1990.*** Despite big strides in prevention and treatment efforts, HIV/AIDS remains the biggest cause of premature death in more than a dozen sub-Saharan countries. Write to Gautam Naik at [email protected] Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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