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The European health report 2015
on the basis of their resources and existing suicide prevention activities. In particular, it recommends effective evidence-based and low-cost interventions, even in resource-poor settings (46).
Target 2: increase life expectancy in Europe Summary of progress The quantification for this Health 2020 target is a continued increase in life expectancy at the current rate (the annual rate for the period 2006–2010), coupled with reducing differences in life expectancy in the Region. The core indicator is life expectancy at birth. Average life expectancy at birth in the Region has been increasing since the 1990s. At the time of writing, insufficient information was available to enable assessment of the rate of change in life expectancy at the regional level since the Health 2020 baseline in 2010. Differences between countries in the Region and between men and women have decreased over time. This positive trend seems to have continued in the period 2010–2011, although the limited data availability does not permit sound conclusions. Nevertheless, the gaps remain considerable.
Fig. 2.8. Life expectancy at birth (years)
85 80
76.8 73.2
60
Maximum value reported in Region Regional average Minimum value reported in Region Source: European Health for All database (11).
2010
2008
2006
2004
2002
1998
2000
1996
1994
1992
1990
55
Gap in life expectancy at birth between countries still more than a decade The Health 2020 target stipulates a continued increase in life expectancy at the annual rate for 2006–2010. The average annual increase in this period was 0.26 years, indicating accelerated progress compared to the previous period (1990–2005), when it was only 0.09 years. Average life expectancy at birth in the European Region was 76.6 years in 2010 and 76.8 years in 2011 (Fig. 2.8). At the time of writing, the regional average for 2012 could not yet be calculated reliably because data for that year were available for only a minority of countries. This will therefore be reported in the Regional Office’s 2015 edition of core health indicators. Assessment of the longer-term time trend shows that in 1993 the average life expectancy in the Region took a sharp downturn;