Research
Global Life Expectancy Rebounds, Noncommunicable Disease Threat Increases
JAMA ·
The Brief
- The WHO's latest Global Health Estimates data show global life expectancy has rebounded since the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Noncommunicable diseases account for an increasing share of deaths worldwide.
- The findings were reported in the JAMA Current Issue on 2026-11-10.
Why it matters
The shift toward noncommunicable diseases as a growing share of deaths matters for science readers working on public health, epidemiology and health policy, since it points to where prevention and research effort may need to focus.
Who’s affected
- public health researchers
- epidemiologists
- health policymakers
- #life expectancy
- #noncommunicable diseases
- #global health
- #mortality
- #who estimates
The World Health Organization (WHO) released its latest Global Health Estimates data, finding that although life expectancy has rebounded since the COVID-19 pandemic, noncommunicable diseases account for an increasing share of deaths.