Report Finds Why Women Live Longer than Men

A new report has found that women everywhere live on average 4.4 years longer than men because they see the doctor more often and take better care of their health.

The report says men are more likely to die from 33 of the 40 most common causes of death. For example, men smoke and drink alcohol much more than women and take more risks.

"Men use healthcare less than women," says Samira Asma of the World Health Organization (WHO), which prepared the report. "They are less likely to [get] care and to continue care once diagnosed... And also, men are more likely to die from preventable and treatable noncommunicable diseases and road traffic accidents."

Asma says noncommunicable diseases are becoming a bigger problem in low and middle-income countries, where people are now using more tobacco, drinking more alcohol and are more likely to have an unhealthy diet.

While women live longer than men around the world, the WHO report says their life expectancy is much lower in low-income countries because of maternal deaths caused by poor health care. One in 41 women die from maternal causes in low-income countries, compared with one in 3,300 in richer nations.

The report also found that between 2000 and 2016, global life expectancy increased by 5.5 years for both men and women, from 66.5 to exactly 72 years. However, life expectancy in low-income countries is still more than 18 years lower than in high-income countries.

Questions: 
1.According to the WHO report, why do women live on average 4.4 years longer than men? 
2.Why are noncommunicable diseases becoming a bigger problem in low- and middle-income countries? 
3.Why is life expectancy for women lower in low-income countries? 
4.Do you think global life expectancy will continue to increase over the next few decades? Why? Why not? 
5.In your opinion, what's the key to living a long and healthy life? Please explain your answer. 

Vocabulary: 
1.noncommunicable = not able to be given to others; not contagious 
2.life expectancy = the number of years someone is likely to live