According to a significant study released on Tuesday, Covid-19 caused the average life expectancy of people globally to drop by 1.6 years during the first two years of the pandemic—a more serious loss than previously believed.Scanning through data for the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), hundreds of academics concluded that this was a dramatic turnaround during a decades-long climb in global life expectancy.
“For adults worldwide, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a more profound impact than any event seen in half a century, including conflicts and natural disasters,” said Austin Schumacher, an IHME researcher and lead author of the study published in The Lancet journal. During 2020-2021, life expectancy declined in 84 percent of the 204 countries and territories analysed, “demonstrating the devastating potential impacts” of new viruses, he said in a statement.
According to the researchers’ estimates, the rate of death for individuals over 15 increased by 17% for women and 22% for males throughout this period.The locations where life expectancy decreased the greatest were Mexico City, Peru, and Bolivia.However, the updated estimates of the historic Global Burden of Disease study by the IHME had some positive news.In 2021, there was a half a million fewer deaths among children under five than in 2019, which maintained the long-term downward trend in child mortality.
This “incredible progress” was praised by IHME researcher Hmwe Hmwe Kyu, who stated that the world should now concentrate on “the next pandemic and addressing the vast disparities in health across countries.”In addition, people are living significantly longer than they did before the pandemic.The average life expectancy at birth increased by 23 years, from 49 to 72, between 1950 and 2021, according to the study.
