Keywords
Gender Gap
Life Expectancy
Mortality
Brazil
How to Cite
Abstract
This study investigates the impact of reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality on the gender gap in life expectancy at birth in Brazil between 2010 and 2019. Using age- and sex-specific mortality data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and the Mortality Information System, single-decrement life tables were computed under four counterfactual scenarios: 25 %, 50 %, 75 %, and 100 % reductions in CVD mortality. Results show that reducing CVD mortality increased life expectancy for both sexes, with women benefiting proportionally more, leading to a widening gender gap across Brazilian regions. Regional variations reflected differences in competing mortality risks, cause-ofdeath structures, and epidemiological transitions. Reducing CVD mortality is a public health priority in its own right, but its demographic dividend is unequal by sex: closing the gender gap in life expectancy will require complementary action on the causes that concentrate male premature mortality, especially external causes.
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