Global health improving, but still not perfect: 5 study findings

A new study published in The Lancet Thursday shows improvements to the global population's health, along with a rise in life expectancy.

For the Global Burden of Disease study, researchers examined 249 causes of death, 315 diseases and injuries and 79 risk factors throughout 195 countries between 1990 and 2015.

Here are five study findings.

  1. By 2015, the global life expectancy rose to 69 years for men and 74.8 years for women, a decade longer than in 1980, according to the report. Researchers attributed this rise to lower death rates from infectious diseases, among other contributing factors.

  2. Researchers found healthy life expectancy — the amount of time individuals can expect to live in good health — increased by 6.1 years between 1990 and 2015 in 191 of the 195 countries included in the analysis. However, the figure did not increase as much as overall life expectancy, suggesting that people are living longer with illness and disability.

  3. Researchers found seven out of 10 deaths are due to non-communicable diseases like cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

  4. More than 1 in 10 people in the world suffer from headaches, tooth cavities and hearing and vision loss.

  1. While deaths of children under five have halved since 1990, progress on reducing newborn deaths in the world is slower.

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