‘We’re failing to make progress’: Studies show ongoing toll of premature Black deaths
In the last two decades, Black Americans have suffered 1.63 million excess deaths and lost more than 80 million years of life compared to white Americans, according to a new analysis that is the first comprehensive attempt to quantify the impact of health disparities by tallying years of potential life lost.
The analysis showed improvement was made in narrowing long-standing health gaps between Black and white Americans between 1999 and 2011, but progress stalled through 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic, which disproportionately killed people who were Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander, then rapidly increased the number of excess deaths in Black populations.
