Just before Christmas, U.S. federal health officials confirmed life expectancy in the United States had dropped for a nearly unprecedented second year in a row, down to 76 years, reported the National Public Radio (NPR) on Saturday.
"While countries all over the world saw life expectancy rebound during the second year of the pandemic after the arrival of vaccines, the U.S. did not," noted the report.
Then, last week, more bad news: Maternal mortality in the U.S. reached a high in 2021. Also, a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association found rising mortality rates among U.S. children and adolescents.
"Across the lifespan, and across every demographic group, Americans die at younger ages than their counterparts in other wealthy nations," said the report.
In a country that prides itself on scientific excellence and innovation, and spends an incredible amount of money on health care, the population keeps dying at younger and younger ages, it said.
"The authors tried to sound an alarm, but found few in the public or government or private sectors were willing to listen. In the years since, the trends have worsened," it added.
Produced by Xinhua Global Service
