The cost of living longer

A study published recently in the British medical journal The Lancet found that while life expectancy worldwide has been rising, many people are living their longer lives with more illness.

The study included data on 306 diseases in 188 countries during the period from 1990 to 2013. It found that life expectancy worldwide rose 6.2 years, from 65.3 to 71.5 years, over the study period. However, healthy life expectancy, which takes into account nonfatal conditions and disability, rose by only 5.4 years, from 56.9 to 62.3 years.

The increase in life expectancy has been attributed to a decrease in deaths associated with HIV/AIDS and malaria. During the study period, HIV/AIDS was the fastest growing cause of health loss worldwide, but it began to decrease due to global control and treatment efforts.

The study also identified the leading causes of health loss worldwide, which include ischemic heart disease, lower respiratory infection, and stroke.

The study included a list of countries with the highest and lowest healthy life expectancies. Japan had the highest at 73.4 years.

Interestingly, the United States was not in the top 10 for highest healthy life expectancy. The question then becomes what can be done to improve it?

The study's lead author, Professor Theo Vos of the University of Washington, called for efforts to find new ways to prevent and treat diseases and disability. This challenge is particularly important in the United States, where much of the national discussion on health care has been on access rather than on outcomes.

Although access remains a key issue in American health care, other issues remain key, such as improving quality of life and preventing disease and injury. These should be a larger part of the ongoing national conversation on health care.

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Marcelo H. Fernandez-Viña is a third-year law student at Drexel's Thomas R. Kline School of Law, concentrating in health law.

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