World's Highest Life Expectancy Research Articles

The present value of human life losses associated with COVID-19 and likely cost savings from vaccination in Kenya

Background: The study estimates the total present value (TPVKENYA ) of human lives lost due to COVID-19, total indirect costs attributed to COVID-19 mortality, total direct costs of all COVID-19 cases, and projected cost savings due to COVID-19 vaccination as of 25 July 2022. Methods: We used a human capital approach (HKA) model to estimate TPVKENYA . The indirect cost of COVID-19 (ICi=1,..,6) for each of the six productive age groups equals the present value multiplied by the relevant employment-to-population ratio. The direct cost (DCi=1,..,4) for each of the four disease severity categories (asymptomatic, mild/moderate, severe, critical) is the product of the number of COVID-19 cases in a severity category and the average total direct cost per patient. The total direct cost saving equals the number of infections averted with vaccination multiplied by the average total direct cost per patient treated. The total indirect cost saving equals the number of COVID-19 deaths prevented with vaccination multiplied by the average total indirect cost per death. Results: The cumulative 5670 human life losses had a TPVKENYA of Int$268,408,687 and an average total present value of Int$47,338 per human life. A re-run of the HKA model with (a) discount rates of 5% and 10% reduced TPVKENYA by 16% and 39%, respectively; (b) Africa's highest life expectancy of 78.76 years and world's highest life expectancy of 88.17 years increased TPVKENYA by 79% and 129%, respectively; (c) excess mortality of 180,215 increased TPVKENYA by 3,078%. Total indirect and direct costs of COVID-19 were Int$36,833 per death and Int$1,648.2 per patient/case, respectively. The 30% target population's COVID-19 vaccination coverage may have saved Kenya a total cost of Int$ 1,400,945,809. Conclusions: The pandemic continues to erode Kenya's human health and economic development. However, scaling up COVID-19 vaccination coverage would save Kenya substantial direct and indirect costs.

Understanding longevity in Hong Kong: a comparative study with long-living, high-income countries

Since 2013, Hong Kong has sustained the world's highest life expectancy at birth-a key indicator of population health. The reasons behind this achievement remain poorly understood but are of great relevance to both rapidly developing and high-income regions. Here, we aim to compare factors behind Hong Kong's survival advantage over long-living, high-income countries. Life expectancy data from 1960-2020 were obtained for 18 high-income countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development from the Human Mortality Database and for Hong Kong from Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department. Causes of death data from 1950-2016 were obtained from WHO's Mortality Database. We used truncated cross-sectional average length of life (TCAL) to identify the contributions to survival differences based on 263 million deaths overall. As smoking is the leading cause of premature death, we also compared smoking-attributable mortality between Hong Kong and the high-income countries. From 1979-2016, Hong Kong accumulated a substantial survival advantage over high-income countries, with a difference of 1·86 years (95% CI 1·83-1·89) for males and 2·50 years (2·47-2·53) for females. As mortality from infectious diseases declined, the main contributors to Hong Kong's survival advantage were lower mortality from cardiovascular diseases for both males (TCAL difference 1·22 years, 95% CI 1·21-1·23) and females (1·19 years, 1·18-1·21), cancer for females (0·47 years, 0·45-0·48), and transport accidents for males (0·27 years, 0·27-0·28). Among high-income populations, Hong Kong recorded the lowest cardiovascular mortality and one of the lowest cancer mortalities in women. These findings were underpinned by the lowest absolute smoking-attributable mortality in high-income regions (39·7 per 100 000 in 2016, 95% CI 34·4-45·0). Reduced smoking-attributable mortality contributed to 50·5% (0·94 years, 0·93-0·95) of Hong Kong's survival advantage over males in high-income countries and 34·8% (0·87 years, 0·87-0·88) of it in females. Hong Kong's leading longevity is the result of fewer diseases of poverty while suppressing the diseases of affluence. A unique combination of economic prosperity and low levels of smoking with development contributed to this achievement. As such, it offers a framework that could be replicated through deliberate policies in developing and developed populations globally. Early Career Scheme (RGC ECS Grant #27602415), Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee of Hong Kong.

The discounted value of human lives lost due to COVID-19 in France.

Background: This study estimates the total discounted value of human lives lost (TDVHL) due to COVID-19 in France as of 14 September 2020. Methods: The human capital approach (HCA) model was used to estimate the TDVHL of the 30,916 human lives lost due to COVID-19 in France; i.e., assuming a discount rate of 3% and the national average life expectancy at birth of 83.13 years. To test the robustness of the estimated TDVHL, the model was rerun (a) using 5% and 10% discount rates, while holding the French average life expectancy constant; and (b) consecutively substituting national life expectancy with the world average life expectancy of 73.2 years and the world highest life expectancy of 88.17 years. Results: The human lives lost had a TDVHL of Int$10,492,290,194, and an average value of Int$339,381 per human life lost. Rerun of the HCA model with 5% and 10% discount rates decreased TDVHL by Int$1,304,764,602 (12.4%) and Int$3,506,938,312 (33%), respectively. Re-calculation of the model with the world average life expectancy decreased the TDVHL by Int$7,750,187,267 (73.87%). Contrastingly, re-estimation of the model with the world's highest life expectancy augmented TDVHL by Int$3,744,263,463 (35.7%). Conclusions: The average discounted economic value per human life lost due to COVID-19 of Int$339,381 is 8-fold the France gross domestic product per person. Such evidence constitutes an additional argument for health policy makers when making a case for increased investment to optimise France's International Health Regulation capacities and coverage of essential health services, and safely managed water and sanitation services.

The discounted money value of human lives lost due to COVID-19 in Spain

PurposeTo estimate the discounted money value of human lives lost (DMVHL) due to COVID-19 in Spain.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs the human capital approach to estimate the DMVHL (assuming Spain's life expectancy of 83 years and a 3% discount rate) of the 20,453 human lives lost in Spain from COVID-19 as of 19 April 2020. Sensitivity analysis was conducted alternately assuming (a) 5% and 10% discount rate; and (b) global life expectancy of 72 years, and the world's highest life expectancy of 87.1 years.FindingsThe 20,453 human lives lost due to COVID-19 had a total DMVHL of Int$ 9,629,234,112, and an average of Int$ 470,798 per human life lost. Alternate re-estimation of the economic model with a 5% and 10% discount rates led to 19.8% and 47.4% reductions in the DMVHL, respectively. Re-calculation of the economic model using the global life expectancy of 72 years, while holding the discount rate constant at 3%, diminished the DMVHL by 41%. While the re-run of the same model using the world's highest life expectancy of 87.1 years instead, it increased the DMVHL by 18%.Research limitations/implicationsThe study omits the value of health systems inputs used in preventing, diagnosing and treating COVID-19 cases; and the negative impact of COVID-19 on the agriculture, education, finance, manufacturing, travel, tourism, and trade sectors.Social implicationsThere is a need to use this kind of evidence to advocate for increased investments into the strengthening of the national health system, IHR capacities, and coverage of safe water and sanitation facilities.Originality/valueIn Spain, no other study had attempted to estimate the net present value of human lives lost from COVID-19.

Building primary care in Japan: Literature review.

Japan's health system is well known for achieving one of the world's highest life expectancy with universal health coverage. However, the country now faces challenges of a rapidly aging population and changes in patterns and burden of disease. Primary care is an important component of a well‐functioning health system. In Japan, primary care services are provided in both the community and hospital settings. The distinction between primary and secondary care may not always be clear. This review is based on the framework from the 2015 WHO publication on primary care systems in Europe. Our aim is to describe the journey of primary care in Japan, with its past, present, and future as a valuable addition to the academic English literature. We also hope that this article would inspire readers outside of Japan who might face similar issues in their respective countries.

Japan's dietary transition and its impacts

An examination of the transformation of the Japanese diet from subsistence to abundance and an assessment of the consequences for health, longevity, and the environment. In a little more than a century, the Japanese diet has undergone a dramatic transformation. In 1900, a plant-based, near-subsistence diet was prevalent, with virtually no consumption of animal protein. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, Japan's consumption of meat, fish, and dairy had increased markedly (although it remained below that of high-income Western countries). This dietary transition was a key aspect of the modernization that made Japan the world's second largest economic power by the end of the twentieth century, and it has helped Japan achieve an enviable demographic primacy, with the world's highest life expectancy and a population that is generally healthier (and thinner) than that of other modern affluent countries. In this book, Vaclav Smil and Kazuhiko Kobayashi examine Japan's gradual but profound dietary change and investigate its consequences for health, longevity, and the environment. Smil and Kobayashi point out that the gains in the quality of Japan's diet have exacted a price in terms of land use changes, water requirements, and marine resource depletion; and because Japan imports so much of its food, this price is paid globally as well as domestically. The book's systematic analysis of these diverse consequences offers the most detailed account of Japan's dietary transition available in English.