Along with the reduction of life expectancy due to its pandemic coronavirus, more than 28 million extra years of life, that is, in addition to what was expected, the 2020 in 31 developed countries, including Greece, according to a new international epidemiological study, the largest of its kind to date. Excessive premature deaths were more in men than in women.
Overall, the lost years of life due to the Covid-19 pandemic were in 2020 more than five times (2,510 per 100,000) compared to those due to the seasonal flu epidemic in 2015 (458 per 100,000). Coronavirus lost last year due to the coronavirus was relatively low in people under the age of 65 in most countries, as the pandemic mainly affected the elderly.
Coronavirus: The countries with the most premature deaths than expected
The researchers, led by epidemiologist Dr. Nazrul Islam of the Department of Population Health at the University of Oxford, who published the study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), analyzed data from 37 high-income countries. Last year, with the exception of six countries (Taiwan, New Zealand, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, South Korea), all others had more premature deaths than expected, with the problem is bigger in four countries (Russia, USA, Bulgaria, Lithuania).
Understanding the full impact of the pandemic requires not only counting excessive mortality (difference between observed and expected deaths from any cause based on historical data), but also assessing how premature these deaths are, ie in which age occurred and therefore how many years of life were lost. According to the APE-MPE, the study compared life expectancy and lost life years in 2020 compared to the period 2005-2019.
The image for life expectancy
While from 2005 to 2019 the life expectancy at birth had increased in both sexes In all study countries, by 2020 there was a decrease in both men and women in almost all countries (except New Zealand, Taiwan and Norway, which were more or less immune to coronavirus). The biggest decline in life expectancy last year recorded in Russia (-2.33 years in men and -2.14 years in women) as well and in the US (-2.27 in men and -1.61 in women).
The lost years of life in 2020 were more than expected in all countries except Taiwan and New Zealand, while in four countries (Iceland, South Korea, Denmark, Norway) there was no change last year. The remaining 31 countries – including Greece – were lost in 2020 more than 222 million years of life, 28.1 million more than expected (17.3 million extra lost years for men and 10.8 million for women). The record in lost years of life (per 100,000) in 2020 have the Russia (7,020 men and 4,760 women) and Bulgaria (97,260 and 3,730 respectively).
Given that the study did not cover most of Asia, Africa and South America, the total extra life years lost due to coronavirus are certainly higher and the real cost of the pandemic will be estimated in time, when more data are available internationally.
Here you will see the relevant scientific publication.
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