TEHRAN Life in the twenty-fist century should be healthier and longer for more people than ever before, according to a major report released on Monday by the UN World Health Organization (WHO). In The World Health Report 1998, WHO offers a cautiously optimistic view of the future. It predicts that worldwide, premature deaths defined as occurring before the age of 50 years will be cut by half by the year 2025.

But it warns that in 1998, over 7 million adults will die before reaching this age, and 10 million children will die before their fifth birthday. WHO says global life expectancy at birth, now 66 years, is projected to reach 73 years by 2025. However, Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima, WHO's director-general, points out that the extra years are shared unequally among rich and poor.

Tragically, while average life expectancy has been increasing throughout the 20th century, he says, three out of four people in the least developed countries are dying before the age of 50 the global life expectancy of half a century ago. Dr. Nakajima says the international community's prime concern must be the plight of those most likely to be left furthest behind as the rest of the world steps confidently into the future.

(Courtesy UN Information Center)