Bridging the gap in life expectancy of the aborigines in Taiwan

There are nine aboriginal tribes in Taiwan, with a combined population of approximately 330 000 (1.5% of the total population in Taiwan). The aborigines in Taiwan are of Malayan or Polynesian origin. Their customs, language, and physical characteristics are similar to those of the native population of the South Seas. The aboriginal people were the original residents in Taiwan for at least 2000 years before the arrival of the Chinese in the 16th century. When the Chinese flocked to Methods This study included residents (slightly over 200 000) from 30 'aboriginal townships' in Taiwan. The gap in life expectancy between aborigines and the general population was analysed by decomposing these gaps according to major causes of deaths. This analysis quantifies the contribution of different causes of deaths to the gap in life expectancy between the two populations. Results The overall mortality of aborigines in these townships was approximately 70% higher than the respective male and female general populations over the past 30 years. Mortality from infectious disease, cirrhosis of the liver, accidents, and suicide are substantially higher than the general population. The gap in life expectancy at birth in males was 8.5 years during 1971-1973, increasing to 13.5 years by 1998-2000, however, the gap in females remained relatively stable (8.0 years and 8.4 years, respectively). Of the 13.5-year difference in life expectancy in males, the differential mortality from diseases of the digestive system (mainly due to cirrhosis of the liver), accidents (from both motor vehicle and non-motor vehicle accidents), and infectious and parasitic disease contributed half (50%) of the gap in life expectancy. In females, the above primarily preventable causes of deaths accounted for 41% of the life expectancy gap. Conclusions Based on the findings of this study, we suggest that future focus should be in the area of primary prevention in order to reduce the incidence of infectious and parasitic diseases, liver cirrhosis, and accidents.