In 1960, the global north is well ahead of the global south in terms of life expectancy. But as we move to 2016, we can see many of those light blue countries begin to darken as their life expectancy greatly increases.

Great leaps were made in life expectancy since 1960. But, many regions have still not caught up to the leaders. Is there a reason for this? Let's look at the mid 1980's to mid 2000's: the height of the AIDS epidemic around the world. Was the disease impactful enough to lower the growth rate of life expectancy?

The onset of the AIDS epidemic was disastrous for many countries, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa. Luckily this trend has started reversing since 2005, so maybe the worst impact of the epidemic is over and these countries will look forward to large increases in the coming years.