2024 Conference
September 10-13, 2024
“Tackling declining life expectancy in the US: investigating social drivers and policy solutions”
U.S. life expectancy declined to 76.4 years in 2021, lower than it has been since 1996, and the largest decline in life expectancy since World War II. While life expectancy rebounded in other countries after the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it did not increase in the U.S. In fact, across the lifecourse, people in the U.S. die at younger ages than their counterparts in other high-income countries, a pattern which predates the Pandemic era. Read more
Particularly shocking is an increase in mortality among U.S. children and adolescents, as well as a rise in maternal mortality. Certain health problems seem to drive the decline in life expectancy, including overdoses, firearm homicide and suicide, motor vehicle crashes, and heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Furthermore, U.S. public policies have contributed to the decline at the same time that policy represents a potential solution.
The 2024 Annual IAPHS Meeting will focus on understanding the drivers and potential solutions to the critical public health issue of the U.S. life expectancy decline. The plenary sessions will each tackle one theme within this broader issue: (1) social and structural drivers of the decline in life expectancy (with particular attention paid to the role of structural racism in driving racial/ethnic disparities in the life expectancy decline); (2) promising solutions to address critical drivers of the decline in life expectancy at the national, state and local level; and (3) lessons learned from other countries. The call for abstracts and symposia will also prioritize papers reporting on the epidemiology, social and structural drivers of the decline in life expectancy, evaluation of policy and program solutions implemented in the U.S., and lessons learned from other countries. Special attention will be paid to evidence on the epidemiology, drivers and solutions to key health conditions behind the decline life expectancy, including overdose, firearm homicide and suicide, motor vehicle crashes, and chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.
