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Posted on May 10, 2012, 6 a.m.
French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) releases data suggesting how long Europeans can expect to live without disability.
An important European policy indicator to assess the quality of life and functional health status of Europeans, the HLY (Healthy Life Years) indicates how long people can expect to live without disability. It has been computed annually for each Member State of the European Union since 2005. In 2009 men in the European Union (EU27) could expect 61.3 Healthy Life Years (HLY), representing almost 80% of their life expectancy (LE) at birth of 76.7 years. Women could expect 62 HLY, 75% of their life expectancy (LE) at birth of 82.6 years in 2009. In 2010, Sweden has the longest life expectancy at birth (79.6 years) for men in the European Union and Lithuania the shortest (68 years), a gap of almost 12 years. Swedish men also have the most Healthy Life Years (71.7 years) with men in the Slovak Republic having the least (52.3 years), a gap of almost 20 Healthy Life Years. And again Sweden has the highest proportion of years lived without disability (HLY/ LE) in 2010 with 90% of life expectancy without limitations in usual activities. In 2010, France and Spain have the longest life expectancy at birth (85.3 years) for women in the European Union and Bulgaria the shortest (77.4 years), a gap of nearly eight years. In 2010 Malta has the highest HLY (71.6 years) for women and the Slovak Republic the lowest (52.1 years), the gap being the same as for men at almost 20 years.
Data coordinated by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), presented at the First annual meeting of the European Joint Action on Healthy Life Years, April 19th 2012.
