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"Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition."
Timothy Leary (1920-1996)
T he year 2006 should not be allowed to pass without at least a quiet celebration that this is the first year in human history when-across almost all the world-women can expect to enjoy a longer life expectancy than men. That the trend is moving in this direction will probably be confirmed this week in the 2006 world health report.
In its world health report of 2002, the World Health Organization, using data for 2001, reported that male life expectancy exceeded female life expectancy in only six countries: Nepal, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Bangladesh, and Swaziland. 1 A year later, the situation seemed to have reversed in all six countries, with two other countries (Qatar and the Maldives) reporting that men were living slightly longer than women. 2 In its 2004 report the WHO continued to report the same 2002 data and in only those two tiny territories (the Maldives and Qatar) did women die younger than men. 3 In the 2005 report, life expectancy data for 2003 were reported, but only to the nearest year of age, making comparison difficult. 4
In January this year the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) updated its World Factbook and reported its estimates for life expectancy in 2005. 5 According to the CIA, in Qatar and the Maldives women now lived longer than men. Elsewhere, however, women's...