New research documents 1.6 million excess deaths among Black Americans in past 20 years

New research documents 1.63 million excess deaths among Black Americans, compared with their white counterparts, over the last two decades. 

A study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medicine Association, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found the excess deaths represented more than 80 million years of “potential life lost” in that period. 

Excess deaths for Black Americans persisted throughout the 23-year period between 1999 and last year. 

The excess mortality rate initially decreased from 404 to 211 excess deaths per 100,000 Black males between 1999 and 2011, then plateaued until 2019. In 2020, the rate jumped again to 395 per 100,000. 

The excess mortality rate for Black females declined from 224 to just 87 out of every 100,000 between 1999 and 2015 — then increased to 192 in 2020.

Researchers from Yale School of Medicine, Northwestern University’s Feinberg School and elsewhere say they noted “substantial worsening” in 2020 — despite “encouraging gains” in the early aughts — indicates “a need for new approaches” to health equity. 

“Differences in loss of life were most prominent among infants, with Black-White mortality and years of potential life lost rate ratios greater than 2.3 among those younger than 1 year old. Heart disease in both sexes and cancer in males were the largest drivers of differences in excess deaths,” the research found.

Efforts to curb the disparities have been “minimally effective,” the study reads.

“Excess deaths and years of potential life lost among the US Black population persist and by scale warrant national attention,” the research concluded. “With millions more lives and life-years at stake, new strategies are needed.”

Another study highlighted the economic burden of health inequities and premature death disparities and concluded that “although it is impossible to put a precise monetary value on life, the loss of those who die prematurely has significant negative impacts on families and communities.”