I’ll be off to California in a few weeks to celebrate one of my best friends’ birthdays. Matilda is turning 50! I have campaigned for her to celebrate for months!
I’d say, “Do you know how many people died in the first year of the (COVID-19) pandemic?” Over half a million deaths in the United States and more than 3 million worldwide.
Then I would ask, “Do you know how many people don’t reach their 50th birthday?” Of course, that’s a rhetorical question. In the United States, approximately 274,000 people die before the age of 50, and worldwide, that number is about 14 million.
Figure 1. Age Distribution of Deaths in the United States: 2023
Data Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024). OurWorldinData.org/life-expectancy | CC BY
1. Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system. A Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system (CRVS) is an administrative system in a country that manages information on births, marriages, deaths, and divorces. It generates the stores’ vital records’ and legal documents such as birth certificates and death certificates. You can read more about how deaths are registered around the world in our article: How are causes of death registered around the world?
Figure 2. Age Distribution of Deaths Worldwide: 2023
Data Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024). OurWorldinData.org/life-expectancy | CC BY
- Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system. A Civil Registration and Vital Statitics system (CRVS) is an administrative system in a country that manages information on births, marriages, deaths, and divorces. It generates the stores’ vital records’ and legal documents such as birth certificates and death certificates. You can read more about how deaths are registered around the world in our article: How are causes of death registered around the world?
A gut punch
On Friday, May 30th, I learned that my former teaching assistant and former WISER Board member, Idrissa Boly, had lost his brother, Amadou Boly, who was 46 years old. To his family and friends, Amadou was a son, brother, uncle, husband, and father (in chronological order). In the professional world, he is recognized as a brilliant economist.
I contacted Willene Johnson, the former U.S. Executive Director of the African Development Bank, to see if she knew Amadou. She did not, but shared that she knew several people who had died at or around the age of 50. I expressed how the deaths during the pandemic had made me value birthdays even more.
Willene reminded me that many had forgotten how New York used 18-wheelers to store bodies during the height of the pandemic. The 3 million lives lost now seem like a distant memory, and it frustrates me that people were so eager to return to “normal.”
For anyone who has lost a family member or friend, returning to normal is a journey. If you know someone on this journey, please take a moment to let them know you’re thinking about them and offer an act of kindness.
My condolences to the Boly family.
