According to health statistics from the World Health Organization, inequalities between rich and poor countries persist.
Life expectancy in the world has increased by 5 ½ years between 2000 and 2016, said Thursday the World Health Organization (WHO), pointing out that inequalities between rich and poor countries persisted.
Dramatic fall in child deaths
While a person born in 2000 could hope to live up to 66.5 years, those born in 2016 can expect to reach 72 years. This was revealed by WHO in the publication of global health statistics. This is partly due to the dramatic drop in deaths of children under five, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where progress has been made in the fight against malaria, measles and other communicable diseases. according to WHO.
Life expectancy has also increased thanks to progress in the fight against AIDS, which devastated much of Africa in the 1990s. But there are still significant differences in life expectancy between developed and developing countries. In low-income countries, life expectancy is 18.1 years lower than in high-income countries.
4.4 years of difference between men and women
For the first time this year, WHO's global health statistics have been disaggregated by sex. These data make it possible to learn that at birth, there are more boys than girls. This year, some 73 million boys are expected to be born around the world, compared with 68 million girls, according to WHO. But the life expectancy of women is higher (74.2 years) than that of men (69.8 years).
The report presents the differences between the causes of death for men and women: some are biological, others are influenced by environmental and societal factors and others by the availability of health services and the use of health care. them.