The Skeptik 2013;3:97-116
Ginter E1, Simko V2, Sedláková D3
1 Slovak Medical University, emeritus, Slovakia
2 State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center at Brooklyn, USA
3 The WHO Head of Country Office, Slovakia
Summary
Life expectancy and cause-specific mortality are the most fundamental metrics of population health. From 1970 to 2010, the global life expectancy at birth increased in males from 56·4 years to 67·5 years and in females from 61·2 years to 73·3 years. Population growth resulted in an increase in the average age of the world’s population. Decreasing age-specific, sex-specific and cause-specific death rates have combined to drive a broad shift from communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional causes towards non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular disorders and cancer. In Europe specifically, there has been a very significant decrease of premature (age 0-64 years) cardiovascular mortality, but only a small decrease of premature cancer mortality. Consequently, in most European countries, with exception of the post-Soviet region, cancer is the most prominent premature killer. The mortality trends in the Slovak and Czech Republic balance between values of democratic countries with good indicators and the postcommunist regions with poorer values.
Key words: life expectancy at birth, premature mortality, global world health, Europe, Slovakia, Czech Republic, communicable and non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular mortality, cancer mortality
published by Slovak Society of Skeptics