Average life expectancy in India has increased

Life expectancy has increased from 59.6 years in 1990 to 70.8 years in 2019

• The Lancet medical journal and including the Indian Institute of Public Health
  Gandhinagarhas published its new report on life expectancy
• In the report, Lancet has highlighted that India has gained in the life
  expectancy since 1990
• Assessed more than 286 causes of death and 369 diseases and injuries in more
  than 200 countries

Key findings of the report

• The life expectancy in India has risen from 59.6 years in 1990 to 70.8 years in
  2019
• It is ranging from 77.3 years in Kerala to 66.9 years in Uttar Pradesh
• The increase in „healthy life expectancy‟ in India has not been as dramatic
• It is the growth of life expectancy since “people are living more years with illness
  and disability
• The current global crisis of chronic diseases and failure of public health to stem
  the rise in highly preventable risk factors
• It includes high blood pressure, tobacco use, and air pollution has left
  populations vulnerable to acute health emergencies such as Covid19
• The main improvement we see in almost every country, including in India, is a
  decline in infectious diseases and more rise in chronic diseases
• The study co-author Ali Mokdad from the University of Washington in the US
  told PTI
• “In India maternal mortality used to be very high, but now it is coming down
• Cardiovascular diseases used to be number five, and now it is number one,
  and cancer rates are increasing,” Mokdad, Professor of Global Health at the
  Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

Global perspective and assessment

• While many parts of the world have also controlled infectious diseases through
  immunization and better medical care and some countries still struggle to
  manage these epidemics.
• The interaction of Covid-19 with the continued global rise in chronic illness and
  related risk factors
• These including obesity, high blood sugar, and outdoor air pollution, over the
  past 30 years have created a perfect storm, fuelling Covid-19 deaths
• In the South Asia region, they said non-communicable diseases (NCDs) now
  contribute to more than half of the years lost due to ill-health, disability or early
  death, which was dominated by infectious, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional
  diseases 30 years ago
• Citing an example, the researchers said 58 per cent of the total disease burden
  in India is now due to non-communicable diseases, up from 29 per cent in
  1990, while premature deaths due to NCDs have more than doubled from 22 to
  50 per cent

Reasons behind the increase in the health loss in India

• Currently, India is going through the COVID-19 pandemic. Total cases stands
  at around 73 lakh
• Out of these 8,04,528 are active cases and 64,53,780 cases have been cured
• India also reported some 1,13,000 deaths as of today (October 17, 2020)
• However, the largest contributors of the increasing health loss were noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as COPD, diabetes, stroke, heart disease,
  and a group of musculoskeletal disorders over the last 30 years in India
• Though, child and maternal malnutrition is still the main factor for illness and
  death in India contributing to a fifth of the total disease burden in states like
  Bihar and Uttar Pradesh
• But, India has made progressive gains in healthcare system since 1990 and has
  launched so many health schemes for the welfare of the people

The cautions by the researchers 

• They cautioned that urgent action is needed to address the synergistic epidemic
  of chronic diseases, social inequalities, and Covid-19, referring to the
  interaction of several epidemics that exacerbate the disease burden in
  populations who are already burdened
• “Most of these risk factors are preventable and treatable, and tackling them will
  bring huge social and economic benefits,” said study lead author Christopher
  Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at
  the University of Washington in the US
• The researchers said India has made substantial gains in health, but added
  that child and maternal malnutrition is still the number-one risk factor for
  illness and death in India, contributing to more than a fifth of the total disease
  burden in several states in northern India like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh

Pic courtesy : m.economictimes.com