Blacks in the US live 6 fewer years than whites, and homicide is the third-largest contributor to this discrepancy, a new report says (MMWR 2001;50[36];780-3). MMWR, published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says that whites lived 6.2 years longer than blacks in 1998, with heart disease accounting for 1.7 years (27.4%) of the difference, cancer (1.2 years, 19.4%) and homicide (0.6 years, 9.7%). Among black men, homicide accounted for 0.9 years, or 14.1%, of the differential (black women, 0.2 years and 4.5%). Overall, life expectancy in the US is now 77.26 years, 74.37 years for men and 80.05 years for women.
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Patrick Sullivan
CMAJ