Human LIfespan Lengthened by More than Half a Decade

Life expectancy across the world has increased by more than six years since 1990 to an average of 71.5 years, a new study has found.

"The progress we are seeing against a variety of illnesses and injuries is good, even remarkable, but we can and must do even better," said lead study author Christopher Murray, a University of Washington professor, in a press release.

Published in the journal The Lancet, the study showed a significant decline in deaths caused by cancer and cardiovascular disease in high-income countries. Deaths from diarrhea and neonatal complications were also decreased in other countries. Both of these trends contributed to the decline as well as the fact that medical funding for fighting infectious diseases has increased since 1990, Time reports.

However, some bad news accompany this improvement. HIV/AIDS is now included in the top 10 causes of premature death, with the number of annual deaths rising from 2.07 million in 1990 to 2.63 million in 2013. This figure is significant as this is the equivalent of a 344% increase in years of lost life. The increase in deaths from HIV/AIDS made southern sub-Saharan Africa the only region worldwide to experience a decline in life expectancy.

Increased loss of life is also attributed to ailments such as liver cancer caused by hepatitis C, which soared 125% since 1990, and deaths from disorders related to drug use, which increased by 63%.