Women's early death rate 'like Albania'

Men in the UK fare better, according to a worldwide analysis of mortality between 1970 and 2010. Their risk of dying before the age of 60 is typical of that for western Europe.

Scientists calculated the chances of people who have just turned 15 dying before their 60th birthday, using census data and death records.

The results showed that while overall death rates had fallen around the world, in many countries they were higher today than 40 years ago.

Two of the chief reasons for worsening trends in some regions were said to be HIV/Aids in Africa and social upheaval in the former Soviet Union.

The countries with the lowest death rates for men and women are Iceland, Sweden, Malta, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

In Iceland, 44 out of 1,000 women were expected to die before 60, and 65 per 1,000 men.

Figures for the UK, published in The Lancet medical journal, were 58 women and 93 men per 1,000.

Mortality for both sexes in Britain had almost halved between 1970 and 2010. However, British women today were not much better off than those in Slovenia and Albania, whose death rates were 56 and 62 per 1,000 respectively.

In western Europe, only Danish and Belgian women were more likely to die before 60 than British women. Their mortality figures were 65 per 1,000 and 60.

The rate at which mortality had declined since 1970 was highest across southern Asia for women and in Australasia for men.

Notably, despite its wealth, the USA had higher 2010 death rates than many other countries – 77 per 1,000 for women and 130 per 1,000 for men. In comparison, rates in Canada were 52 and 84.

The researchers, led by Christopher Murray at the University of Washington in Seattle, said three times as many adults aged 15 to 60 died each year as did children under five.

They concluded: "The prevention of premature adult death is just as important for global health policy as is the improvement of child survival.

"The global health community needs to broaden its focus."