Detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is essential for public health decision-making. Cause-specific mortality estimates and their impact on life expectancy are crucial metrics for assessing progress in reducing death rates, especially after significant mortality events like the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing mortality rates and life expectancy over time allows for global and temporal comparisons of death causes, offering insights into their effects on populations.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted long-term gains in life expectancy and reductions in leading causes of death, with uneven impacts across different populations. Despite this, progress in combating several major causes of death continued, leading to overall improvements in global life expectancy from 1990 to 2021 across all seven GBD super-regions, even masking pandemic-related setbacks. Regional variations in death causes provide valuable policy insights, showing that some once-common causes of death are now more geographically concentrated. Understanding these shifting trends and the effects of interventions can highlight successful public health strategies. Applying these strategies to areas where certain causes of death persist can help improve life expectancy globally.1

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References

  1. GBD 2021 Causes of Death Collaborators, & Hay, S. I. (n.d.). Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The Lancet, 403, 2100–2032. https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2824%2900367-2

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