Monthly Archives: May 2014

Peak productivity?

Posted on May 25, 2014 by colinmathers

Its been a crazy couple of weeks leading up to the 2014 World Health Assembly (just ended). We were involved in the launch of four global reports with a substantial statistical input from us in a period of 8 days. … Continue reading →

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My Erdös number drops to 4, I doubt it will go lower.

Posted on May 22, 2014 by colinmathers

Chatting to colleagues at work the other day I boasted that my Erdös number had dropped to 5 (see previous post on this), and Dan asked what an Erdös number was. I explained, and he obviously went back to his … Continue reading →

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The world is living longer but still too many premature deaths

Posted on May 15, 2014 by colinmathers

Average global life expectancy has increased by 6 years from 1990 to 2013 and is now 73 years for females and 68 years for males. Our latest statistics report (www.who.int/gho) shows that low-income countries have made the greatest progress, with … Continue reading →

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Maternal mortality rates rising in the USA

Posted on May 13, 2014 by colinmathers

We released new estimates for maternal mortality rates last week. See post at https://colinmathers.com/2014/05/06/latest-estimates-for-global-maternal-mortality-show-accelerating-progress/ The big story is that faster progress is needed and most countries will not achieve the Millenium Development Goal for a 75% reduction between 1990 and … Continue reading →

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The world is getting smaller – my Erdös and Einstein numbers drop

Posted on May 8, 2014 by colinmathers

In an earlier post (https://colinmathers.com/2014/01/26/its-a-small-world-erdos-bacon-and-other-numbers/), I described author paths that gave me an Erdös number of 6 and an Einstein number of 7. The other day I came across a comment that Kenneth Arrow, Nobel Prize Laureate in economics in … Continue reading →

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Latest estimates for global maternal mortality show accelerating progress

Posted on May 6, 2014 by colinmathers

I was just down at the Palais de Nations for a press conference to release our latest estimates of maternal mortality progress. A collaborative effort with other UN Agencies and academic groups that has taken quite a lot of time … Continue reading →

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Reducing six modifiable risk factors could prevent 37 million deaths from chronic diseases over 15 years.

Posted on May 3, 2014 by colinmathers

Reducing or curbing just six modifiable risk factors—tobacco use, harmful alcohol use, salt intake, high blood pressure and blood sugar, and obesity—to globally-agreed target levels could prevent more than 37 million premature deaths over 15 years, from the four main … Continue reading →

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Global trends and projections for causes of death: implications for longevity

Posted on May 2, 2014 by colinmathers

Since 1990, global life expectancy has increased 3 years per decade. Life expectancy at older ages for both sexes has also increased, particularly since 1970, in many developed countries. This trend is most striking in data from my own country … Continue reading →

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