British media: An astonishing number of Americans cannot live to be old! American | Country | United States

"A staggering number of Americans cannot live to old age, and the United States' tolerance for premature death is much higher than other wealthy countries."

The Economist magazine in the UK recently published a lengthy article on the issue of life expectancy in Americans under this title.

The article points out that although the United States has performed better than other developed countries in terms of economic performance over the past 20 years, it has fallen behind in measuring the more basic standard of national health - lifespan. After conducting a survey of 18 high-income countries, the University of Southern California found that the life expectancy of Americans has fallen to the bottom.

The Economist magazine: Americans are more likely to die than people from other wealthy countries at any age under 85

This trend has steadily deteriorated over the past 70 years

What caused Americans to lose their lives?

The article lists many reasons, all of which are closely related to policy deficiencies and political inaction.

Due to the lack of universal healthcare coverage, the United States has made little progress in reducing chronic disease mortality rates for many years; Due to the failure of the fight against the epidemic, the life expectancy of Americans will be six years less than that of other rich countries in 2021 when the COVID-19 epidemic is the most serious; Due to long-term ineffective control over opioid drugs, the drug mortality rate in Americans is much higher than in other wealthy countries; Due to the fact that gun control has become a global alternative, the number of deaths from gun violence in the United States has been soaring year by year;

……

Chart by The Economist magazine in the UK

In fact, this is not the first time that the outside world has paid attention to the issue of American lifespan.

As early as a year ago, many media cited the report issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pointing out that, affected by the COVID-19, life expectancy in the United States has been shortened for two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021, with a cumulative decrease of nearly three years.

The Associated Press reported that the last time such a decline occurred was during World War II.

Screenshot of Associated Press report

In January this year, the National Health Statistics Center of the United States again released a report pointing out that due to multiple factors such as the COVID-19, drug abuse and gun violence, the average life expectancy in the United States has continued to shorten, and it has dropped to 76.4 years in 2021, back to the level in 1996.

The German newspaper Le Monde commented at the time, "The reality of Americans having their lifespan shortened to a quarter of a century ago is a tragic proof of the health and social conditions of the world's largest economy."

German newspaper Le Monde commented on an article titled "Why do Americans have such a short lifespan?"

The latest research report published in the American Journal of Public Health in early June this year further indicates that the "life expectancy disadvantage" of the United States relative to other major countries has been steadily deteriorating since 1950.

According to this study, the life expectancy of American citizens in 1950 ranked 12th among specific populous countries, 3.5 years lower than the longest life expectancy at the time; In 2020, the United States fell to 46th place, 7.8 years behind the best performing country.

Overall, over the 70 years of research, the annual growth rate of life expectancy per capita in the United States has been lower than that of other populous countries for 49 years.

Screenshot of CNN report

In the opinion of Steven Woolf, the report author and honorary director of the Center for Social and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic is "just the latest stage of what has been happening since the 1950s... It reflects the systemic problems in our country, which have been harming the health of Americans for decades".

Steven Woolf

"Unless the United States makes changes as soon as possible, otherwise..."

What is the systemic problem that has been harming the health of Americans all along?

According to Woolf, as early as ten years before the COVID-19 epidemic, a research report jointly issued by the National Research Council of the United States and the American Medical Research Institute found that the United States had a huge gap with other countries in the five key areas of health care, health behavior, social and economic factors, environment and public policies related to national life expectancy.

For example, the United States lacks a universal healthcare system, with more firearms, more drugs, and higher child poverty rates... and all of these situations are getting worse.

Screenshot of CNN report

More research shows that, with the "systematic injustice" faced by vulnerable groups in the United States and the growing gap between rich and poor in the American society, poverty has become the fourth largest killer of Americans after heart disease, cancer and smoking, even more deadly than obesity, diabetes, drug overdose and gun violence.

In addition, ethnic minorities are more likely to fall into poverty, resulting in shorter life expectancy.

Screenshot of a research report released by the University of California

Harvard Medical School also pointed out in an article that the inequality of health resources is a reflection of racial differences.

In the United States, people with the shortest life expectancy are often the poorest, facing the most severe food insecurity issues, and have limited or no access to healthcare.

Screenshot of Harvard Medical School website report

Why did the United States, the number one developed country that claims to be the "beacon of democracy," behave so poorly?

The Washington Post explained in a commentary article that many other countries and regions are able to extend the lifespan of their people because they have been striving to optimize policies for many years; On the contrary, due to political polarization and other reasons, these basic measures to improve national health are difficult to implement in the United States.

The article warns that unless the United States makes changes as soon as possible, the structural ills that lead to shortened life expectancy and deteriorating health conditions for Americans will continue to take their lives and continuously weaken the country.

The Washington Post: It's not just the elderly who pay the price for health issues, but young and middle-aged Americans are also increasingly likely to die young during the golden age of life, which will have a devastating impact on families, communities, and the economy; What is even more unsettling is that the likelihood of American children and adolescents living to the age of 20 is decreasing, a change that has never occurred in the past century.

Source: Global Information Radio's "Global Deep Observation"

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