The rates of mortality among young adults have increased in Eastern Europe in the last decade, despite the decrease of global deaths, Polito reports.
Drug use, suicide and war are among the growing causes in Eastern Europe, while earthquakes and climate disasters have also contributed to increasing mortality rates in the region.
The Global Burden of Disease report (“The Board of Diseases Global”) – published on Sunday in The Lancet magazine and presented at the World Health Summit in Berlin – analyzed data from over 200 countries and territories to estimate the main causes of diseases, mortality and premature deaths worldwide between 1990 and 2023.
Between 2000 and 2023, there was a notable growth of deaths among young adults in Eastern Europe, caused by HIV, self -propelled and interpersonal violence. In Central Europe, deaths caused by mental disorders and eating disorders have also increased considerably among adolescents over the last decade.
This reflects a global tendency – an increase in mental health disorders, with world anxiety rates increasing by 63%, and those of depression by 26%. A national study conducted in Romania this year shows that one of two teenagers or young people in our country say that it has faced depression or anxiety in recent months.
A worrying trend
“Increasing depression and anxiety is very worrying,” Coautor of the Global Burden of Disease report and director of the Institute for Metrics and Health Evaluation (IHME) told Politico. “It is much debate on the basic causes, but we must certainly pay attention to understand what determines this growth,” he stressed.
However, the report shows some positive trends: the global mortality rates decreased by 67% between 1950 and 2023, and the life expectancy worldwide in 2023 was over 20 years older than in 1950.
However, despite these improvements, the study also highlights “an emerging crisis” of increased mortality rates among adolescents and young adults in certain regions.
In North America and Latin America, for example, deaths among young people have increased significantly between 2011 and 2023, mainly due to suicide, drug overdoses and high alcohol consumption. In sub -Saharan Africa, they increased due to infectious diseases and unintended accidents.
In Eastern Europe, the largest increases in mortality were registered among people between 15–19 years and 20-24 years, rates increasing by 54%, respectively 40%, between 2011 and 2023.
Diseases that kill the most people around the world
The report also follows the main causes of mortality globally. It shows that non -transmissible diseases (NCD) now represent almost two thirds of total deaths and diseases worldwide, the first places being ischemic heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
Especially in countries with lower and higher average incomes, “a very rapid transition to non -transmissible diseases is observed,” Murray explained. Evolution is determined by factors such as population aging, slow or non -existent progress in combating smoking and air pollution, as well as increasing obesity levels.
In Central and North America, these chronic diseases have been mainly fueled by an increase in disorders associated with drug use, according to the report.
Diabetes and kidney disease have also largely contributed to increasing the number of cases in Central Europe, but also in other regions. “The approach of these trends requires well-directed public health interventions, improved access to medical services and socio-economic policies meant to reduce the basic risk factors,” says the reports of the report.
Researchers estimate that half of all deaths and disabilities could be prevented by combating high blood sugar levels, overweight and obesity, for example.
The report also shows that, in recent years, the conflict “has begun to travel from northern Africa and the Middle East to Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia” due to Russia's War in Ukraine. This has led to an increase in the deaths caused by wounds. Palestine had the highest mortality rate caused by conflicts and terrorism between all the countries of the world.
At the same time, the deaths caused by specific natural disasters – such as the 2023 earthquake and the heat waves that affected Europe in 2022-2023 – are also on an upward slope.
“In Central and Eastern Europe, the heat waves have become more common in the last decade,” the authors of the report said.
