The lower extremes of life expectancy

November 10, 9:01 PMMinneapolis Longevity ExaminerJohn Walsh

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Somali children refugees walk in Dadaab refugee camp, eastern Kenya
AP Photo/Riccardo Gangale

A review of life expectancy usually begins with looking at the people and countries that are living the longest. It does not take long to stumble over the other end of the spectrum. While the longest-lived people are in the neighborhood of 85, the shortest life expectancy is 31 years of age.

The countries with the citizens living the longest have some common traits like good nutrition, medicine and public health. The opposite can be said of those living the least number of years. Expect for Afghanistan, these countries are located in Sub-saharan Africa. The main cause of this low life expectancy is HIV/AIDS. 70 percent of all the people in the world with AIDS are in this part of the world. HIV/AIDS has surpassed tuberculosis, malaria, dysentery and pneumonia as the leading cause of death.

Secondary, but important, other causes of this low life expectancy are famine, war, lack of clean water and lack of education about the causes of disease.

These are the countries with lowest longevity:

· Swaziland Age 31

· Angola 38

· Zambia 38

· Lesotho 40

· Mozambique 41

· Sierra Leone 41

· Liberia 41

· Djibouti 43

· Malawi 43

· Central Republic of Africa 44

· Afghanistan 44