Life expectancy up in almost every region of the world

Life expectancy up in almost every region of the world
(Image credit: NASA/Getty Images)

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

The study, published Wednesday in the journal The Lancet, showed a major decrease in deaths from cancer and cardiovascular disease in high-income countries; in other countries, deaths from diarrhea and neonatal complications were also down. That contributed to the decline, Time reports, as did the fact that medical funding for fighting infectious diseases has increased dramatically since 1990.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.