Life expectancy on the rise after drop in disease deaths

Research claims 10-year increase is partly due to advances against 'major killers'

Life expectancy worldwide has jumped by a decade since 1980, rising last year to 69 years for men and nearly 75 for women, according to a comprehensive overview of global health released Thursday.

These extra years came in large measure thanks to a sharp drop in deaths from communicable diseases, especially over the last decade, said the Global Burden of Disease report, published in The Lancet.