Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers found that the Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania superregion recorded a net increase in life expectancy (8.3 years) between 1990 and 2021. was found to be the largest. This is mainly due to a shortened lifespan. Mortality from chronic respiratory disease, stroke, lower respiratory tract infections, and cancer. The super region’s strong management of the COVID-19 pandemic helped maintain these gains. South Asia had the second-highest net increase in life expectancy among the super regions from 1990 to 2021 (7.8 years). This is mainly due to a sharp decline in the number of deaths from diarrheal diseases.

“Our study presents a nuanced picture of global health,” said Dr. Lian Ong, co-lead author of the study and principal investigator at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Ta. “On the one hand, we see countries making monumental progress in preventing deaths from diarrhea and stroke,” she said. “At the same time, we also realized how much the COVID-19 pandemic is setting us back.”

The study also highlights how COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the top five causes of death for the first time in 30 years. COVID-19 has become the second leading cause of death worldwide, overtaking stroke, which had long been the leading cause of death. This study presents the latest estimates from the 2021 Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD). The authors found that the superregions hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic were Latin America and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa, which lost the most years. While documenting the huge loss of life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers also pinpointed the reasons behind the improvement in life expectancy across all super-regions. Looking at different causes of death, the study found that deaths from enteric diseases, including diarrhea and typhoid fever, were falling sharply. These improvements increased global life expectancy by 1.1 years between 1990 and 2021. Global life expectancy increased by 0.9 years during this period due to reductions in deaths from lower respiratory tract infections. Advances in preventing death from other causes, such as stroke, neonatal disorders, ischemic heart disease, and cancer, have also increased life expectancy around the world. The decline in deaths for each disease was most pronounced between 1990 and 2019.

At the regional level, eastern sub-Saharan Africa experienced the largest increase in life expectancy, increasing by 10.7 years between 1990 and 2021. Control of diarrheal diseases was a key driver of improvement in the region. East Asia has the second fastest increase in life expectancy. The region’s success in reducing deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease played a key role.

The GBD 2021 study measures cause-specific mortality rates and years of life lost at global, regional, national and sub-national levels. This analysis associates specific causes of death with changes in life expectancy.

The study not only reveals which diseases caused increases or decreases in life expectancy, but also looks at how disease patterns have changed over time and across locations, the authors write. According to the report, it provides an “opportunity to improve our understanding of mortality reduction.” strategy…[which] It may reveal areas where public health interventions are being successfully implemented. ”

GBD 2021 will highlight where we have made significant progress in preventing deaths from major illnesses and injuries. It also highlights that some of the most troublesome diseases are now concentrated in specific locations, highlighting opportunities for intervention. For example, in 2021, deaths from enteric diseases were mainly concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. For another disease, malaria, researchers have found that 90% of deaths occur in a vast region from western sub-Saharan Africa to central Africa and Mozambique, home to just 12% of the world’s population. discovered.

“We already know how to save children from dying from intestinal infections, including diarrheal disease, and progress in the fight against this disease is remarkable,” said the study’s co-lead author and co-lead author. , said Professor Mohsen Nagavi, Director of Regional Burden of Disease Estimation at IHME. . “We now need to focus on preventing and treating these diseases, strengthening and expanding immunization programs, and developing entirely new vaccines against E. coli, norovirus and rubella,” he added.

In addition to providing new insights into COVID-19, this study reveals that the threat posed by non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and kidney disease, is increasing in each country. There is. Researchers also noted unequal progression to diseases such as ischemic heart disease, stroke, and cancer. While high-income countries have reduced deaths from many types of non-communicable diseases, many low-income countries have not.

“The global community is committed to ensuring that the life-saving tools that have reduced deaths from ischemic heart disease, stroke and other non-communicable diseases in most high-income countries are available to people in all countries, even where resources are limited. We need to be able to do that,” Eve said. Wool is the study’s senior author and a senior research manager at IHME.