By Muhammad Amaan
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released latest Global Health Estimates, showing major global trends in life expectancy, mortality, disease burden and morbidity from 2000 to 2023.
The organisation said on Friday in a statement that global life expectancy rebounded to 73.3 years in 2023, approaching pre-pandemic levels, although healthy life expectancy remained below the 2019 level.
“The estimates show noncommunicable diseases accounted for 74 per cent of all deaths globally in 2023, rising from 58 per cent in 2000.
“There is a sharp increase in dementia deaths, which tripled, while health loss linked to anxiety and depression has risen significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In 2023, the 10 leading causes of death accounted for 33 million of the 61 million deaths recorded globally, with noncommunicable diseases making up eight of the top 10 causes,” it stated.
According to the worldbody, cardiovascular diseases, including ischaemic heart disease and stroke, remain among the major contributors to global deaths, alongside respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lower respiratory infections.
“The estimates cover health trends across countries and regions between 2000 and 2023, providing data on life expectancy, mortality, morbidity and the burden of diseases,” it added.
The Global Health Estimates data is gathered through interactive visual summaries and the Global Health Observatory, where users can examine information by country, year, age and sex.
The data also provides key health trends by country income group, while complete datasets are available for download for further analysis and research.
