The Covid-19 pandemic caused nearly 337 million years of life worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated this Friday, warning of the stagnation of several health indicators in recent years.
“In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 has led to a staggering 336.8 million life years lost globally. That equates to an average of 22 years of life lost for every additional day of death, making the lives of millions of people abrupt and tragic deleted,” he said. the organisation.
The WHO today released its annual statistical report updating the impact of the pandemic on global health, showing a “regression” of progress made before COVID-19 towards the global development goals (SDGs).
WHO estimates on mortality indicate that the actual number of deaths directly or indirectly related to the pandemic between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 worldwide was approximately 14.9 million.
This figure represents 9.5 million more deaths than the 5.4 million deaths initially reported during that period, the Geneva-based organization said.
Since the start of the pandemic until Wednesday, more than 766 million cases of infection with the virus that causes Covid-19 have been confirmed and about 6.9 million deaths have been recorded, according to the latest WHO data.
The report also warns that the number of deaths caused each year by non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer and diabetes, “has grown steadily and now nearly three-quarters of all lives are lost each year. “. “.
If this trend continues, WHO data estimates that these diseases “will be responsible for about 86% of the 90 million annual deaths by the middle of the century”, accounting for about 77 million deaths.
The paper also adds that the most recent trends show “signs of slowing down” in targets of annual reductions in several health indicators, such as the global maternal mortality rate, which must fall by 11.6% per year through 2030 to meet the SDG. goal.
“Similarly, the net reduction in tuberculosis incidence from 2015 to 2021 was only one-fifth of the way to the 2025 milestone,” as defined in the WHO’s disease eradication strategy.
Alcohol consumption worldwide fell slightly between 2010 and 2019, with men consuming about three times more than women, the report said, which shows more optimistic data related to tobacco.
“Tobacco consumption has decreased more strongly: about 22% of the world’s population aged 15 years and older consumed tobacco in 2020, compared to almost 33% in 2000,” the organization indicates.
The WHO also estimates that the number of adults aged 30 to 79 with hypertension nearly doubled to 1.28 billion between 1990 and 2019, mainly due to population growth and ageing.
“Safely managed drinking water services were accessible to approximately three-quarters (74%) of the global population in 2020. However, this translated into two billion people still not accessing this resource in a safe manner,” the document indicates.
“Achieving universal access to safely managed water, sanitation and basic hygiene services by 2030 will require a fourfold increase in current progress,” said the WHO, which classifies obesity levels, which have risen, as “alarming” with no immediate response. sign of reversal”.
Despite the stagnation of some indicators, people continue to live longer and longer in good health.
Global life expectancy at birth increased from 66.8 years in 2000 to 73.3 years in 2019 and healthy life expectancy increased from 58.3 years to 63.7 years, says the WHO, which warns, however, that “inequalities in continue to have a disproportionate impact on life and health”. health in less resource contexts”.
Source: DN
