Human Life Expectancy
Though the United States spends more money on health care than any other country, the nation does not top the list of the countries, in which human life expectancy is high. This can be a topic for fierce debates regarding the health-care reform. Read on to know more about human life span…
The United States ranks 50th out of 224 nations in life expectancy, with an average life span of 78.1 years, according to 2009 estimates from the CIA World Factbook. It can be easily judged that the higher the government expenditure on health care, the higher will be the human life expectancy as the mortality rate is lowered.
You may find the ancient figures, informing about human life expectancy in ancient times, quite shocking. For instance, the average human life expectancy in Colonial America was under 25 years in the Virginia colony and in New England about 40% of children failed to reach adulthood. The ‘Industrial Revolution’ was responsible for the dramatic rise in the life expectancy of children. Similarly, public health measures today play an important role in the recent increase in life expectancy. Studies have revealed the fact that during the 20th century, the average human life span in the United States increased by more than 30 years, of which 25 years can be attributed to advances in public health.
Human Life Expectancy
Human life expectancy is defined as ‘the average age that a group of new born people would reach, if they are subjected to the age specific death rates in a particular year’. Human life expectancy is also considered as the expected number of years of life remaining, at a given age. Mostly, human life expectancy at birth is taken into consideration.
Aging
is an unavoidable factor of human life. The life expectancy of a group of individuals may vary according to the criteria used to select the group. Human life expectancy is usually calculated separately for males and females. According to the CIA World Factbook, Macau has the world’s highest life expectancy of 84.4 years. Here is a table showing average human life expectancy in the countries which top the list made by the United Nations (2005-2010) and also the countries which have lowest human life expectancy.
Average Human Life Expectancy
Rank
Country
Overall Human Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
Human Life Expectancy at Birth (years): Male
Human Life Expectancy at Birth (years): Female
1
Japan
82.6
79.0
86.1
2
Hong Kong
82.2
79.4
85.1
3
Iceland
81.8
80.2
83.3
4
Switzerland
81.7
79.0
84.2
5
Australia
81.2
78.9
83.6
191
Lesotho
42.6
42.9
42.3
192
Sierra Lione
42.6
41.0
44.1
193
Zambia
42.4
42.1
42.5
194
Mozambique
42.1
41.7
42.4
195
Swaziland (40% below world average)
39.6
39.8
39.4
It is quite clear that, in countries where individuals pay for their own care, they often don’t get treatment until their symptoms have become serious. In such countries, it is also noticed that there is less emphasis on preventative care. According to the statistics presented by the researchers, a single-payer system seems to be associated with higher human life expectancy. The federal governments of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Australia and Canada are the payers for the respective health care systems and these countries have recorded some of the highest life expectancies in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. It is observed that in the countries where human life expectancy is lower, infant mortality rates are higher. The infant mortality rate can be taken into account for calculating life expectancy but generally, no exact figures of pre-natal mortality (miscarriage or abortion) are available.
Factors Influencing Human Life Expectancy
The human life expectancy is different in different parts of the world because of the differences in public health, medical care and diet. Wars, starvation and spread of the diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, etc. are responsible for much of the excess mortality in poorer nations. Climate, economic circumstances, gender also have an effect on human life span and the way data is collected may also influence the figures. Life expectancy is also affected by exposure to high levels of air and water pollution. It is a fact that well-educated professionals working in offices have a high life expectancy, while coal miners (and in prior generations, asbestos cutters) do not. Other factors affecting the life expectancy are genetic disorders, mental illnesses, physical illnesses, obesity, stress, access to health care, diet, exercise, tobacco smoking, drug use and excessive alcohol use.
Read more on:
- “Gene’y for Increased Human Life Span
- Retirement Age and Life Expectancy
The term human life expectancy, generally used in the context of human populations, is helpful for the analysis of life tables (also known as actuarial tables) which provide the necessary guidelines to the insurance companies. Increased human life expectancy is considered as a symbol of healthy modern life too. With that I come to the end of this article. Hope this information was helpful.
