Cardiovascular Mortality Decline Fuels Life‑Expectancy Gains in High‑Income Asia

A joint research team from Korea and Japan analyzed 34 Asian countries using Global Burden of Disease data from 1990‑2023, publishing the results in Nature. The study found that life expectancy rose steadily across the region, but the main driver varied by income level. In high‑income Asia—including South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Brunei—reductions in cardiovascular disease deaths were the dominant factor extending lifespan. In South‑Asian nations (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan) and Southeast‑Asian countries (Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Philippines), declines in diarrhoeal illnesses and tuberculosis contributed most to the gains.

The COVID‑19 pandemic halted progress, causing a temporary loss of about 0.28‑0.33 years of life expectancy in East and Southeast Asia. Women continued to outlive men by roughly six years in the high‑income group, and the gender gap persisted across all regions. The authors highlighted emerging risks such as hypertension, poor diet, air pollution and rising diabetes prevalence, urging tailored public‑health interventions. Professor Gang Ji‑seung of Korea University emphasized a "proportional universalism" approach, recommending stronger medical infrastructure for low‑income nations and focused chronic‑disease prevention in wealthier countries.