Black population in the U.S. experienced more than 1.63 million excess deaths and more than 80 million excess years of life lost, when compared with the White population over the last two decades, according to a new study published on Tuesday.
After a period of progress in reducing disparities, improvements stalled, and differences between the Black population and the White population worsened in 2020, according to the study published in the medical journal JAMA.
From 1999 to 2020, the disproportionately higher mortality rates in Black males and females resulted in 997,623 and 628,464 excess deaths, respectively, representing a loss of more than 80 million years of life, according to the study.
Heart disease had the highest excess mortality rates, and the excess years of potential life lost rates were largest among infants and middle-aged adults, according to the study.
Amid efforts in the U.S. to promote health equity, there is a need to assess recent progress in reducing excess deaths and years of potential life lost among the Black population compared with the White population, the study said.
Black Americans faced the brunt of recordRECORD-BREAKING surge of drug overdose deaths in 2020
Black Americans suffered a spike in drug overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study finds.
Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, analyzed publicly available data to find the racial breakdown of the record overdose surge in 2020 and found what groups suffered the largest impact.
The research team found that Black Americans suffered a 49 percent increase in deaths per 100,000 residents between 2019 and 2020, up to 36.8 from 24.7.
Black Americans have now surpassed White Americans in overdose deaths per share of the population, only trailing Native Americans.
Black Americans (yellow) suffered a 49% increase in drug overdose deaths from 2019 to 2020, the highest of any group. Every single racial group suffered an increase of 25% or more (dotted line marks start of COVID-19 pandemic)
Black Americans (yellow) surpassed White Americans (gray) in opioid deaths per 100,000 residents for the first time since 2001 in 2020, as the racial group bore the brunt of a record opioid surge
‘In this cross-sectional study, we observed that Black individuals had the largest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in 2020, overtaking the rate among White individuals for the first time since 1999,’ researchers wrote.
The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry last year gathered data from as far back as 1999.
Drug overdoses have long been an issue in the U.S., but the problem reached its height during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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