Life expectancy in the U.S. drops
The drug epidemic and an increasing number of suicides the life expectancy in the United States continue to decline. US citizens had in 2017, an average of 78.6 years long life ahead of – 0.1 years less than in the previous year. The US health authority CDC announced on Wednesday. The authority expressed great concern about the development and said it was a “Wake up call”.
The difference is only slight, a reduction in the life expectancy is for highly developed industrial countries, however, extremely unusual. “We are losing too many Americans in to a young age, and all too often, the preventable causes,” said CDC Director, Robert Redfield. In the year 2017, the number of drugs Overdoses-by 9.6 percent compared to the previous year increased. The number of suicides had increased by 3.7 percent.
The drug epidemic in the United States is mainly due to a widespread abuse of painkillers such as the synthetic Opioid Fentanyl. Also, Heroin is becoming a bigger and bigger Problem.
In the Video: White, young, drug-addicted Comeback of heroin in the United States
Such a Decline recently after the First world war
After a decades-long increase in the average life expectancy in the US was decreased as early as 2015 for the first Time easily. Since then the value had fallen by a total of 0.3 years, said the head of the mortality statistics branch at the CDC, Robert Anderson. Such a decrease was not experienced since the catastrophic Spanish flu after the First world war in 1918.
“We are a highly developed country, we have a lot of resources, and we should actually have a rising life expectancy and not falling,” said Anderson.
In the US, men are the current Figures show that, on average, 76 years of age, women 81. For comparison: In Germany the life expectancy for women currently stands at more than 83 years for men 78 years. Most recently, she was risen by two months.
USA: Not everyone can afford health
Even before the decline in life expectancy in the USA was lower than in similarly developed countries. The state of health of the inhabitants remain behind the possibilities of the country, was, for example, a study from the year 2016.
The graph shows where the state of health of the people is worse than expected due to the development status in the respective country would be (yellow, orange, red) and where it is better (green, light and dark blue).
A principle problem is that the US has one of the most expensive health systems in the world, but not all citizens. Doctors and hospitals charge for their services significantly more than in other countries. The daily rate in an intensive care unit exceeds the equivalent of fast 10.000 Euro.
China has overtaken United States in healthy life expectancy
The consequences are evident also in the statistics, published by the world health organization (WHO) in may. Accordingly, China has overtaken the United States in healthy life expectancy – the number of years of life that a citizen in health spending:
Therefore, people in the USA are older than in China, but also a larger proportion of their lives with diseases. Within the next ten years, China could overtake the USA in overall life expectancy, estimates the WHO.