Maltese women are shown to have the highest healthy life expectancy in the EU, even if overall life expectancy for women is not the highest in Europe. At 83.6 years, it is only just over a year short of France and Spain, with 85.3 years.
As for Maltese men, life expectancy at 79.1 years is second only to Sweden with 79.6 years. Healthy life expectancy is calculated to be 70.2 years, again second only to Sweden’s 71.7 years.
The figures are given in the latest report on life expectancy and healthy life years for all EU countries based on 2010 figures. The report was launched last week in Paris by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) during the first annual meeting of the European Joint Action on Healthy Life Years (EHLEIS).
Healthy life expectancy refers to the number of years that one expects to live without disability, as compared to overall life expectancy, that reflects only the expected number of years of life, without taking into account any years spent in bad health. The former is, in fact, the only health-related structural indicator in the EU as it is considered to be an overarching measure of good health in a country. It is based on life expectancy and on disability data extracted from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) which, in Malta, is run by the National Statistics Office.
Maltese women are shown to have the highest healthy life expectancy in the EU, even if overall life expectancy for females is not the highest in Europe. Even so, at 83.6 years, it is only just over a year short of France and Spain, at the top of the league with 85.3 years. This implies that Maltese women are expected to live 85.7% of their life in good health, once again among the top countries in Europe.
For Maltese men, life expectancy is 79.1 years, second only to Sweden with 79.6 years. Healthy life expectancy is calculated to be 70.2 years, once again second only to Sweden’s 71.7 years. One can in fact conclude that men in Malta are expected to live 88.6% of their life in good health, which is ahead of the great majority of EU states.
Welcoming the data, parliamentary secretary Mario Galea said the secretariat is providing a long string of services for the elderly community which include day centres, meals on wheels, home help, night shelters, handyman services, Telecare, incontinence services, respite services, MMDNA, Commcare, Karta Anzjan, Outreach, and several residential homes.