Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — American Samoa is experiencing a decline in average life expectancy. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its global impacts, the only known COVID deaths in the territory were recorded in 2022 (16 deaths due to COVID-19), while Heart Diseases, Influenza/pneumonia, Malignant Neoplasm, Septicemia, and Cerebrovascular Diseases were the leading causes resulting in almost 400 deaths in American Samoa during 2022.

This falling statistic has underscored the need for further policy actions to identify the causes of the decline and anticipate the future implications of the systemic changes in the local demographics, economic development, public health, education, and the social environment. The importance of further investigation cannot be overstated, as it will provide crucial insights into the pressing health challenges facing the territory and guide the implementation of changes and policy interventions to enhance public health and longevity in the Territory.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a decline in life expectancy can have profound implications on the economy, healthcare, and society. It can lead to a diminishing workforce, which can strain the support for retirees. This can result in an explosion of age-related morbidity and associated healthcare costs and a declining quality of life among older people due to a lack of human, financial, and institutional resources. This underscores the severity of the issue and the urgent need for intervention.

The new American Samoa Lifetable was constructed from average deaths between 2018 and 2022, using the 2020 census age/sex distributions as new baseline denominators. A newborn male's average life expectancy is now 69.70 years (a decline of 1.4 years). A newborn female's average life expectancy is now 74.47 years (a decline of 3.3 years).

Johns Hopkins Medicine gives this advice for a longer, healthier life:

• •        Don't smoke
• •        Maintain a healthy weight.
• •        Get up and move
• •        Make healthy food choices

(The American Samoa Life Table was calculated using the Taylor R, Morrell S. Life Table and Probability of Dying Calculation Tool, School of Public Health and Community Medicine (SPHCM), University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.)