The UW’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has taken a cue from the master of visual information Hans Rosling and presented global adult mortality vs income over time in a nice interactive map. Below is just a screen grab so go to the link to play the animated data set:
Worldwide adult mortality trends and income distribution over time
The United States is not doing too well, as this map shows, especially when you consider how wealthy we are and where we rank overall (near Slovakia, I think).
Globally, the adult mortality trends indicated a widening rise in inequality worldwide. As this report from IHME states, health disparities among countries and between men and women are widening.
The research also shows that the United States has fallen significantly behind other countries in reducing deaths. In 1990, the US ranked 34th in the world in female mortality and 41st in male mortality, but by 2010, it had dropped in the rankings to 49th for women and 45th for men. This puts it behind all of Western Europe and lower-income countries such as Chile, Tunisia, and Albania.
“With adult mortality, we are seeing this massive spread between the best and the worst off , unlike what we have seen with maternal mortality and what we are seeing with children, both of which have seen major progress since 1970,” said Dr. Christopher Murray, IHME Director.
