Americans aren’t living as long as other high-income countries for a surprising reason. 5 major initiatives could help

In the report from the Bloomberg American Health Initiative (BAHI) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, researchers highlight a widening gap between life expectancy in the U.S. as compared to the U.K.

On average, life expectancy is 78.6 years in the U.S. compared to 81.3 years in England and Wales. The life expectancy gap of the two regions (2.7 years overall) is even larger for men, 3.4 years, as compared to women, 1.9 years. 

In 1984, people in both countries lived to 75 on average, and the report points to key similarities of the high-income regions across economics, aging populations, immigrant communities, and declining smoking rates. However, in 2019, the U.K. led in life expectancy by about three years compared to the U.S. In the latest 2023 data analyzed from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics and the U.K. Office for National Statistics, the gap furthered as U.S. life expectancy went down by a portion of a year and U.K. life expectancy went up. 

Researchers explain that preventable causes, including cardiovascular disease, drug overdose, firearm-related homicide and suicide, and car accidents, have contributed to this widening gap in the U.S., and led to more younger people dying. Covid-19 and cancer deaths are also a contributing factor, per the report. 

Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, tells Fortune that what’s most alarming is how “firearm-related homicide and suicide rates are 485.9 times higher for people under age 25 in the U.S. compared to the United Kingdom (U.K.) and drug overdose rates are 4.5 times higher in the U.S. for people under age 25.” 

“The most surprising finding was that preventable causes explain the gap in life expectancy,” says Sharfstein. “It’s not so much what we’re doing wrong, but rather, we need to use the evidence we do have to scale effective public health interventions, from reducing opioid-use disorder to youth suicide prevention to reverse the life expectancy gap and improve population health.” 

There are five essential preventable causes for this gap, especially as it relates to protecting young Americans, that public health initiatives can tackle, according to Sharfstein:

• Reducing cardiovascular disease by prioritizing clinical and population-based solutions including increasing access to treatment for hypertension, increasing access to more nutritious food, reducing sodium through food policy, and more opportunities for physical activity.
• Reducing overdose-related deaths by expanding access to treatment for opioid use disorder, such as methadone, in the U.S. through community pharmacies and correctional facilities.
• Reducing gun homicides and gun-related suicides by limiting access to gun ownership through Firearm Purchaser Licensing and Extreme Risk Protection Orders, both popular policies that have been shown to reduce violence or self-harm.
• Reducing teen suicides by building a national community mental health infrastructure that allows for ongoing investment in mental healthcare services, especially in rural and historically underserved areas.
• Reducing motor vehicle crashes by incorporating intelligent speed technology that alerts drivers when they are over the speed limit, enforce penalties for impaired driving, and include a hazard perception test as part of driver licensing requirements.

“There is no good reason why Americans can expect to die nearly three years earlier than their counterparts in the U.K.,” says Sharfstein. “With programmatic policy solutions, the life expectancy gap can be decreased. Working with and in communities to understand and solve problems using data and evidence is the essence of public health and the pathway to a healthier nation.”