Belgium falls from 8th to 15th place European years of life in good health



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By Belga

Belgians lose on average 20,000 years of healthy life per 100,000 inhabitants, according to a study published on Monday by Sciensano, the former -Scientific Institute of Public Health, in collaboration with the Catholic University of Louvain. Belgium ranks 15th out of the 28 countries in the EU, whereas it was 8th in 1990. Progress has been made, but it is less important than among our neighbors.

"We all hope to live long and well. health. Many of us, however, at some point in time encounter health problems that compromise this quality of life, "says Dr. Charline Maertens of Noordhout, a scientist with UCL.

In 2016, Belgians lost on average 20,000 years of healthy life per 100,000 inhabitants, against 26,000 in 1990. For Sciensano, these advances are attributable in particular to a better vaccination rate against measles. Thirty years ago, some 80,000 new cases of this disease were detected. Prevention has reduced this figure to around fifty in 2016.

Although Belgium is generally better off, it still remains far behind the top rankings. The Spaniards, Italians and French show the best results, with 17,000 to 18,000 years of life lost. The Lithuanians occupy the last place with a loss of 28,000 years of healthy life per 100,000 inhabitants.

Lumbar pain is the first pathology to which the loss of quality of life can be attributed to us. They are indeed responsible for 1,300 lost years per 100,000 inhabitants. Lifestyle also plays an important role: 2,400 healthy years are wasted because of tobacco, 1,800 because of bad eating habits and 1,600 because of alcohol.

"A third of our years lost in good health is therefore attributable to factors that we could, in principle, influence, "concludes Dr. Maertens de Noordhout.

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