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girls, i.e. during this time period, the life expectancy<br />

in Estonia increased for both men and women based<br />

purely on the number of disability-free years left to<br />

live, which is a very gratifying result. Of course, actually,<br />

the number of disability-free years is not evenly<br />

divided among the entire population, because, unfortunately,<br />

some of us are sick our entire lives and others<br />

are healthy until they die.<br />

Most of the increases in life expectancy in Estonia,<br />

as well as in the rest of the world, are achieved thanks<br />

to the reduction of deaths among children and young<br />

people, and not thanks to the better management of illnesses<br />

later in life. Therefore, the difference between life<br />

expectancy and the years of disability-free life are constantly<br />

increasing, and global experience shows that an<br />

increase in average life expectancy beyond 70-75 years<br />

means that the longer life will be almost totally spent with<br />

health-related limitations. According to a Global Burden<br />

Disease Study (Salomon 2012), in the case of 50-year-olds,<br />

for every year that is added to life expectancy, only 0.6<br />

years are free of disease.<br />

Since men’s life expectancy is shorter than<br />

women’s, the length of their disability-free life is also<br />

shorter. For instance, a boy that is born in Estonia in<br />

2010 can expect to live 54.1 years, or 77% of his life<br />

(70.6 years), disability-free; and a girl born in the same<br />

year, 58.2 years, or 72% of her life (80.8 years) without<br />

health-related limitations. In 2010, the life expectancy<br />

of 65-year-old Estonian women (19.4 years) was significantly<br />

longer than that of similarly aged men (14.2<br />

years), although the number of disability-free years was<br />

the same – 5.5 and 5.3 years, respectively. However,<br />

paradoxically, if at birth the life expectancy of Estonian<br />

women is 10 years longer, then the number of<br />

disability-free years left to live is only 4 years more<br />

than that of Estonian men, i.e. the majority of women’s<br />

additional life expectancy will be accompanied by<br />

health-related limitations.<br />

In comparison to our neighbouring countries<br />

(Figures 1.4.1 and 1.4.2), the increase in the number of<br />

years that Estonian women and men live disability-free<br />

has outpaced Latvia and Lithuania, and has arrived at<br />

the same level as Finland, although it lags significantly<br />

behind Sweden. In Sweden, the disability-free life expectancy<br />

of men is 71 years, which is longer than the life<br />

expectancy of men in the Baltic states.<br />

Although, in the ranking of disability-free life<br />

expectancy in the European Union, the Baltic states<br />

continue to be in last place, the improvements that<br />

have occurred in the last few years demonstrate that<br />

it is possible to increase disability-free life expectancy.<br />

This can be achieved if healthy lifestyles are purposefully<br />

promoted among the population, and heart disease<br />

and injuries can be prevented. This is what has<br />

ensured the progress to day, since these are also the<br />

areas where we lag behind the most, as compared to<br />

the rest of Europe.<br />

An explanation has yet to be found for why the<br />

number of their disability-free years has formed the basis<br />

for the increased life spans of both women and men<br />

in Sweden. Of course, it must be considered that the<br />

assessment of one’s health and health-related problems<br />

Figure 1.4.1<br />

Remaining years of disability-free life, WOMEN<br />

Figure 1.4.2<br />

Remaining years of disability-free life, MEN<br />

EU27 average Sweden<br />

Finland Latvia<br />

Lithuania<br />

Estonia<br />

EU27 average Sweden<br />

Finland Latvia<br />

Lithuania<br />

Estonia<br />

70<br />

70<br />

65<br />

65<br />

60<br />

60<br />

55<br />

55<br />

50<br />

50<br />

Years<br />

45<br />

Years<br />

45<br />

2004 2006 2008 2010<br />

2004 2006 2008 2010<br />

42<br />

Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013

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