Human beings live an average of 5.5 years longer now than at the beginning of this century, as global life expectancy has gone from 66.5 to 72 years, but this and other advances could be reduced with the COVID pandemic- 19, warns today a report of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The World Health Statistics published annually by the organization, which do not yet include data on 2020 and therefore do not show the impact of the coronavirus, indicate advances that are nonetheless threatened by the pandemic, the WHO stressed when presenting the new data.
“People have longer, healthier lives, the downside is that progress is too slow to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and that it will backtrack with COVID-19,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom said in a statement. Ghebreyesus.
On the other hand, although the improvement in life expectancy is evident, the WHO stresses that there is still a huge gap between developed countries, where the indicator reaches 80.8 years, while in developing nations it is 62, 7 years (2016 figures).
Spain ranks third in the world, with a life expectancy of 83 years (80.3 for men and 85.7 for women), only behind the 84.2 years in Japan and 83.3 in Switzerland.
In Latin America, Costa Rica (79.6 years) heads the statistics, followed by Cuba (79) and Panama (78), while the countries with the lowest life expectancy in the region are Bolivia (71.5 years), Guatemala ( 73.2) and the Dominican Republic (73.5), according to the WHO.
Argentina’s life expectancy in 2016 was 76.9 years, 75.1 in Brazil and Colombia, 76.4 in Chile, 76.6 in Mexico, 75.9 in Peru and 74.1 in Venezuela, according to The report.
Despite the large gap between rich and poor countries, it has narrowed throughout the century, since while average life expectancy in developing countries increased 11 years between 2000 and 2016, it only did so in three years in the more developed nations.
Statistics also show improvements in access to health care for the prevention of diseases such as AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis, as well as in maternity services, which halved child mortality between 2000 and 2018, the report highlights. .
In other indicators, the WHO warns of a stoppage of progress, for example in the area of immunization, or in the care of non-infectious diseases, which in 2016 caused 70% of global deaths (most of them, 85, in developing countries).
In this sense, the WHO stresses that in more than 40% of the planet’s countries there are less than 10 doctors for every 10,000 people, and that in a world where universal free coverage is still a utopia, about 1 billion people spend a year at least 10% of your income from medical care.
“The pandemic has recalled the urgent need for all countries to invest in strong health systems, such as the best defense against outbreaks such as COVID-19 and other threats that the world faces every day,” said Tedros.
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