MIAMI (AFP) - Life expectancy in the United States dropped last year for the first time since the peak of the HIV/AIDS crisis more than 20 years ago, as deaths rose from nearly every major cause, federal data showed Thursday (Dec 8).

The total US population's life expectancy in 2015 was 78.8 years, a decrease of 0.1 year from 2014, said the report by the National Centre for Health Statistics.