Earlier this year, annual report on world happiness revealed that the US had dropped out of the top 20 happiest countries for the first time in the list’s history. Today, another report highlights how the US lags in health and well-being outcomes compared to other high-income countries.
in report from the Bloomberg American Health Initiative (BAHI) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, researchers highlight the widening gap between life expectancy in the US compared to the UK
On average, life expectancy is 78.6 years in the US compared to 81.3 years in England and Wales. The difference in life expectancy between the two regions (a total of 2.7 years) is even greater for men, 3.4 years, compared to women, 1.9 years.
In 1984, people in both countries lived to age 75 on average, and the report points to key similarities between the high-income regions in their economies, aging populations, immigrant communities and declining smoking rates. However, in 2019, the UK led the way in life expectancy by around three years compared to the US. In the latest data from 2023 analyzed by the US National Center for Health Statistics and the UK Office for National Statistics, the gap widened as life expectancy in the US fell by a fraction of a year and life expectancy in the UK increased .
The researchers explain that preventable causes, including cardiovascular disease, drug overdoses, murder-suicides by firearms, and automobile accidents, have contributed to this widening gap in the US and led to the deaths of more and more young people. Covid-19 and cancer deaths are also a contributing factor, according to the report.
dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, director of Bloomberg’s American Health Initiative and associate dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, speaks Wealth that what is most alarming is that “firearm-related homicide and suicide rates are 485.9 times higher for people under the age of 25 in the US compared to the United Kingdom (UK), and drug overdose rates are 4.5 times higher in the US for people under 25.”
“The most surprising finding was that preventable causes explained the gap in life expectancy,” says Sharfstein. “It’s not so much that we’re doing it wrong, but that we need to use the evidence we have to scale up effective public health interventions, from reducing opioid addiction disorders to preventing youth suicide to reverse the life expectancy gap and improve population health.”
There are five major preventable causes of this gap, especially when it comes to protecting young Americans, that public health initiatives can address, according to Sharfstein:
- Reduction of cardiovascular diseases by prioritizing clinical and population solutions including increasing access to hypertension treatment, increasing access to more nutritious food, reducing sodium through food policy and more opportunities for physical activity.
- Reduction in overdose-related deaths by expanding access to treatment for opioid use disorders, such as methadone, in the US through community pharmacies and correctional facilities.
- Reduction in firearm homicides and gun-related suicides by restricting access to gun ownership through firearms purchaser licensing and extreme risk protection orders, both popular rules that have been shown to reduce violence or self-harm.
- Reducing teenage suicide by building a national community mental health infrastructure that enables continued investment in mental health services, particularly in rural and historically underserved areas.
- Reduction of motor vehicle collisions by incorporating intelligent speed technology that warns drivers when they exceed the speed limit, impose penalties for driving in poor conditions and include a hazard perception test as part of the driver’s license application.
“There is no good reason why Americans can expect to die almost three years earlier than their counterparts in the UK,” says Sharfstein. “Program political solutions can reduce the difference in life expectancy. Working with and in communities to understand and solve problems using data and evidence is the essence of public health and the path to a healthier nation.”
