Truemors
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
Japanese females have highest life expectancy according to WHO
Share:
by Amy Judd | May 21, 2009 at 01:27 pm
358 views | 32 Recommendations | 5 comments
A Japanese female has the highest life expactancy according to a new report by the World Health Organisation, with Canadian females living to an average of 83 and Canadian males living to an average of 78. San Marino however, also has a high expectancy as men there live till 81 years of age on average.
Sierra Leone has the shortest life expectancy, with males living to an average 39 years, and in Afghanistan men and women only live until 41 and 42 years of age.
Some countries have increased expectancy through ending wars and putting more money into healthcare, such as Eritrea, whose average age for men is now 61, which is up 33 years from 1990, and 65 for women, which is up 12 years.
In Liberia, men are now expcted to live to 54, up from 29 and woman could live to 58, up from 45.
Countries like Angola, Bangladesh, Maldives and East Timor have also increased their life expectancy.
However in Zimbabwe, life expectancy has declined sharply, by 19 years for women to 44, and 12 years for men to 45. It also fell in Swaziland by about 12 years for both men and women.
The WHO did say that they are glad children under 5 are not dying at such a rapid rate, but millions are still dying.
"The decline in the death toll of children under five illustrates what can be achieved by strengthening health systems," said Dr. Ties Boerma, director of WHO's department of health statistics and informatics.
It is thought that increased use of medications, mosquito nets and improved water and sanitation facilities are helping with life expectancy for children.
Some facts from the report:
An estimated 1.2 billion people are affected by tropical diseases, such as 546 million people who were treated in 2007 to prevent the parasitic disease lymphatic filariasis (also known as elephantiasis) that causes enlargement of parts of the body. Availability of essential medicines at public health facilities is often poor and prices remain high, even for generic medicine. More than three million people in developing countries are now receiving antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS. Adolescent pregnancy rates remain high. Globally, there were 48 births for every 1,000 women aged 15-19 years in 2006, down slightly from 51 per 1,000 in the year 2000. Out of every 100 deaths worldwide, 51 are due to noncommunicable conditions such as heart disease and cancer, 34 due to communicable, maternal or nutritional conditions; and 14 due to injuries such as traffic collisions.
What is NowPublic?
NowPublic lets people work together to cover news events around the world.
Related Stories
Recommendations (32)
Roy C
Vancouver, Washington, United States
Barbara McPherson
Nanaimo, Canada
Paschen
Narita, Chiba, Japan
Pythiian1
New York, New York, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
at 16:24 on May 21st, 2009
It's rather fascinating that Japanese women continue to maintain their longevity ahead of other nations.
As an added bit about the US:
Source: washingtonpost.com
at 16:30 on May 21st, 2009
There are some changes starting to show, as woman entered the work force and more are pursuing careers in Japan, the life expectancy of Woman is slowly dropping and may soon be no differed then Man.
at 16:50 on May 21st, 2009
These life expectancies are life expectancies at birth.
Believe it or not, but according to what I have read in one of my nutrition books (which I will find later), the average American male in 1910 who was 20 years old, could expect to live to be 70.
As the Japanese move to Hawaii and then onto Los Angeles, their higher fat diet shortens their life.
at 17:48 on May 21st, 2009
Some interesting figures there.
at 19:56 on May 21st, 2009
The longest living people in the West are nuns.