The terrible COVID-19 pandemic reversed progress in what is called life expectancy in New York City, that is, the length of time a person can expect to live from the moment of birth. But the truth is, that terrible public health crisis was not the only factor.
In what represents the most drastic drop in a century, Big Apple residents lived from 82.6 years on average in 2019 to 78 years in 2020.
But this numerical “snapshot” that captures the declines in how long New Yorkers live was not the same for everyone. The largest declines occurred among blacks and Latinos.
Between 2019 and 2020, while overall life expectancy across all demographic groups fell to 78 years, among New Yorkers of color it plummeted to 76 years. In contrast to the 81.8 birthdays, on average, that white people celebrated.
Now, at the crossroads of several challenges that the Big Apple is experiencing, this week Health authorities announced a campaign that aims to extend the life expectancy rate of New Yorkers to 83 years by 2030, with progress in all racial groups and ethnic.
The Healthy NYC (HealthyNYC) plan lays out a “recipe” with many ingredients to address the leading causes of premature death, including chronic and diet-related diseases, detectable cancers, overdoses, suicide, maternal mortality, violence and COVID-19.
In this sense, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health (DOHMH) shared a series of coordinates regarding the ambition for residents of the Big Apple to have “longer and healthier lives.”
“Perhaps there is no value more important than health in our society and democracy. The path we take here in the city will provide guidelines for our nation and its people, who should expect to live much longer and live well, for themselves and for future generations,” projected the City’s main doctor.
COVID-19 influenced, but it’s not all
Although the recent pandemic that hit the five boroughs hard has a bearing on this trend, other causes contributed to this drop in life expectancy.
For example, overdose deaths increased in 2020 and 2021. Other factors contributing to the decline in life expectancy were gun violence and chronic diseases such as diabetes.
To address this trend, HealthyNYC outlines goals of reducing cardiovascular disease and diabetes by 5% in seven years. It also aims to attack cancers that are detectable, including those of the lung, breast, colon, cervix and prostate. In this case, the plan is to reduce these cases by 20% by 2030.
This program also specifies the challenge of reducing overdose deaths due to substance use by 25%, suicides by 10%, murders by 30%, and deaths associated with pregnancy, among black women, by a 10%.
Fatality due to complications with COVID-19 is also in this account. The ambition is greater: Reduce human losses for this reason by 60%.
How will it be achieved?
Based on the details of this strategy, one of the main challenges will be to increase access to healthy foods and promote plant-based diets, to reduce deaths from chronic and diet-related diseases.
At a time when average life expectancy in the city decreased by 5.5% during the pandemic, one of the ways is to end certain patterns that drive mortality. In this case, it is highlighted that education about a plant-based lifestyle could extend life expectancy by up to 13 years.
Likewise, ‘HealthyNYC’ states that it is “vital” to increase access to social support services and mental health care, “including early intervention for communities of color and LGBTQIA+ youth, address the impact of social media on youth to reduce deaths by suicide.”
It is also contemplated increasing access to naloxone and treatment and recovery centers to reduce the increasing number of overdose deaths due to substance use, especially when the emergence of opioids continues to be on the deadly map of the Big Apple.
The main line of this action plan is to increase the access of new families to quality medical care to reduce mortality associated with pregnancy among women of color.
The main steps described in ‘HealthyNYC’ build on some policies already initiated by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, such as the “Care, Community, Action” programs (To improve the mental health of families and children while addressing the crisis of overdose), as well as the “Plan to end armed violence” that started in 2022.
With this announcement, Dr. James McDonald, commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, interprets that many of the state’s goals are being reinforced, addressing systemic inequalities and creating safer birth experiences for all New Yorkers.
“We look at a variety of prevention, treatment, harm reduction and recovery initiatives to help New Yorkers affected by the opioid crisis and ensure equitable access to underserved populations,” he said.
Living in NYC
On the horizon of the years to come, in such a diverse city, there are many positions on the future. For example, Rosa Cruz, aged 80 years and five months, arrived from Puerto Rico to New York City in 1962. The islander believes that access to medicine and many services have improved for “everyone.”
“I’m fine in my mind. And notice that I still move alone with my cane everywhere. And I volunteer to help others. My doctors are wonderful. We have health care here that you can hardly find anywhere else,” says Cruz.
For her part, Dominican Arelys Soto, 78, assures that what threatens the quality of life of New Yorkers, more than diseases, is what she defines as “the dangers of the street”: “Look, we have better medicines, more access to science. But this city became chaos. Now the danger is not bullets, as in the eighties. Now the biggest danger for us old people is the uncontrolled motorcycles everywhere. They cause accidents, they take away the road from pedestrians and nobody does anything.”
Life and death data:
- 7,300 deaths could be avoided in the coming years if HealthyNYC goals are met
- 30,000 New Yorkers died from conditions linked to poor diet, a third of which were due to cancer.
- Homicides have increased 59% since 2019 among Big Apple residents aged 15 to 24. Firearms account for 70% of these fatalities.