On May 25th, local time, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report stating that over the course of two years, an estimated 13 million people have died due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This global outbreak has become a leading cause of death in many regions, reversing the steady increase in global life expectancy.
In 2020, COVID-19 became the third leading cause of death worldwide, rising to the second position in 2021. Apart from Africa and the Western Pacific region, COVID-19 ranks among the top five causes of death in all regions globally.
The World Health Organization has pointed out that in just two years, the pandemic "erased nearly a decade" of progress in increasing life expectancy. From 2019 to 2021, global life expectancy decreased by 1.8 years to 71.4 years, the same level as in 2012.
The report indicates that the Americas and Southeast Asia were the hardest hit, with life expectancy in these regions dropping by around 3 years from 2019 to 2021. Meanwhile, the Western Pacific region experienced the least impact in the first two years of the pandemic.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated, "We must remember how fragile the progress made by humanity in health and longevity is. In just two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has destroyed the efforts and achievements of the past decade."
He emphasized the need not only to strengthen global health security but also to safeguard long-term investments in health, promoting equity within and among nations.
The COVID-19 outbreak first emerged at the end of 2019 and rapidly evolved into the largest pandemic in nearly a century. The medical journal The Lancet previously suggested that the death toll related to the COVID-19 pandemic could reach as high as 18 million.
The WHO report also highlights that before the pandemic, non-communicable diseases were the leading cause of death, including ischemic heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Alzheimer's disease, other dementias, and diabetes, accounting for 74% of all deaths in 2019.
Furthermore, the world is facing increasingly serious issues of obesity and malnutrition. In 2022, over 1 billion people aged 5 and above are obese, while more than 500 million suffer from malnutrition. Child malnutrition is also a significant concern, with 148 million children under 5 experiencing stunted growth.
Despite setbacks caused by the pandemic, progress has been made in achieving the "Three Billion" sustainable development goals and health-related indicators. The "Three Billion" goals include: reaching an additional 1 billion people with universal health coverage; protecting an additional 1 billion people better against health emergencies; and improving the health and well-being of an additional 1 billion people.
