Life expectancy rises in poor nations, UN reports
Credit: Rostislav Kralik/public domain Life expectancy in the globe's poorest countries has risen by an average of nine years over the past two decades, thanks to major improvements in infant health, the United Nations said Thursday. In its annual statistics, the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) said that six of the countries had even managed to raise life expectancy to over 10 years between 1990 and 2012. The top achiever was Liberia, where average lifespans increased by a full 20 years, from 42 to 62. Next in line were Ethiopia (from 45 to 64 years), Maldives (58 to 77), Cambodia (54 to 72), East Timor (50 to 66) and Rwanda (48 to 65). "An important reason why global life expectancy has improved so much is that fewer children are dying before their fifth birthday," WHO chief Margaret Chan said in a statement. Globally, average life expectancy rose by six years during the same period. Based on global averages, a girl who was born in 2012 ca