According to Vivalis, changes in health behaviors, such as the decline in smoking, and advances in health care are the main reasons for these positive developments.
However, the agency’s analysis also found that the improvements did not benefit everyone equally.
Data from the 2017-2019 period show strong differences in life expectancy between rich and poor neighborhoods in Brussels.
The life expectancy of men living in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre (commune with the highest median income in 2019, according to the Belgian Statistical Office), is for example more than six years higher than that of the inhabitants of Saint-Josse -ten-Noode. , the poorest municipality in the capital region.
On average, babies born today in the richest neighborhoods of Brussels can expect to live at least two years longer than those born in the least wealthy neighborhoods.
The report also reveals that the life expectancy gap has widened over the past two decades, suggesting that the Belgian capital is becoming increasingly unequal.
Vivalis stressed that “health inequalities begin at or before birth” and called for a comprehensive health and prevention policy that goes “beyond personal choices and strives to improve the conditions in which the people of Brussels live, work and flourish.”
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