The coronavirus pandemic has caused the greatest decline in life expectancy in Western Europe after being good since World War II. In a recent study published by the International Journal of Epidemiology, data from 29 countries have been analyzed and 27 have shown that the number of years of life of the population has decreased considerably between 2019-2020 compared to 2015 and 2019.

Women's life expectancy has been shortened for more than a year in eight countries: In the Spanish State as a whole, the loss has been one and a half years. In the case of men, the decline in life expectancy for more than a year has occurred in eleven countries. in Lithuania EE.UU, Bulgaria and Poland have exceeded one and a half years: in the first two countries the loss has been 1.7 years and in Poland it has been 2.2 years, respectively.

The factor that has most influenced the decline in life expectancy has been the high mortality rate in the larger population. The highest number of coronavirus deaths has occurred among the population over 60 years of age, which has led to a decline in statistics. In particular, Poland, the United States and Spain are the countries where life expectancy has fallen the most in this section, reducing by 1.4 years.

The high mortality rate for those over 80 years mainly affects the life expectancy of women, who live on average more than men. In general, however, men have the greatest decline in life expectancy, except in Spain, Slovenia and Ireland.

It should be noted that the decrease in the population under 60 years of age has also been important in some of the counties analyzed. Thus, the countries in which the life expectancy of this group — the USA, Lithuania and Bulgaria — has diminished the most overall declines in life expectancy.

Poverty and racism, killer

In fact, in these countries, the increase in mortality is due to other factors that are not coronavirus. In Eastern Europe, the loss of the population aged between 60 and 79 has led to a decline in life expectancy. According to the study, this trend shows the health decline in Eastern countries compared to Western Europe, as there is a lack of resources to combat cardiovascular diseases “at these ages when more comorbidity and vulnerability occur”.

In other countries where life expectancy has fallen, similar trends are also observed in some parts of the population. In the case of Brazil and Mexico, it has been shown that poverty has had a significant impact on the mortality rate. In the United States, black and Latino communities have also suffered the most serious consequences of the pandemic: compared to the rest of the population, the mortality rate has been three times higher in this population, especially among young people of working age. The report summarizes that “lack of parity and structural racism to access the health system among people of working age can help explain these high mortality rates.”

Delays in treatment

The organization of the health system is also attributed to the high mortality rate among groups that have not died from coronavirus disease. In fact, the quarantines that have occurred during the pandemic have reduced the number of deaths by accident, although “delays in the treatment of cancer or cardiovascular diseases” have increased this mortality rate.