Corporate News
The latest Global Burden of Disease study (GBD 2013), published in this
month’s Lancet journal, reveals that Kenyan women are living longer than
the men. PHOTO | BD GRAPHIC
By SARAH OOKO
In Summary
- Kenya still grappling with the challenges of HiV/Aids, pneumonia and diarrhoeal diseases which account for 39 per cent of all deaths in the country while malaria, measles deaths have remarkably gone down
The latest Global Burden of Disease study (GBD 2013),
published in this month’s Lancet journal, reveals that Kenyan women are
living longer than the men.
It states that the average life expectancy for women is now
approximately 67.5 years compared to 63 years in men. These statistics
show a slight improvement from 1990 where women and men lived for about
64.2 and 61.8 years respectively.
Out of the 188 countries included in the study,
Kenya ranks 138 and 140 for the longest life expectancies for women and
men respectively.
Andorra had the longest life expectancy for women
(86.7 years) and Qatar for men (81.2 years). Lesotho on the other hand,
had the shortest life expectancy for both women (51.2 years) and men
(45.6 years).
The study shows that the leading killers in Kenya
are HIV/Aids, pneumonia and diarrhoeal diseases which account for 39 per
cent of all deaths in Kenya.
Among people aged between 15 and 49 years,
Tuberculosis and HIV/Aids claim the most lives, resulting in close to
50,000 deaths annually. Stroke is the major cause of death in
individuals aged 70 and above, while pneumonia is the top cause of child
mortality, killing about 17,000 children under the age of five each
year.
Based on the GBD 2013, Kenya has seen marked
decline in mortality from a number of diseases that previously took a
toll on the country. Deaths due to measles and malaria, for instance,
decreased by 65 per cent and 52 per cent respectively within the last 23
years.
In 1990, these two diseases killed about 23,888
people. However by 2013, they had claimed 13,203 fewer lives. The study
also revealed how some diseases and injuries cause varying mortality
patterns among different genders in Kenya. For example, tuberculosis
killed an estimated 11,395 men compared to 6,502 women in 2013.
By contrast, stroke claimed 6,116 women’s lives and
caused only 5,428 deaths among the male population in the country. The
researchers found a widening gap between countries with the lowest and
highest death rates from a given disease which was viewed as a potential
sign of increasing global inequalities in health.
They noted that a number of conditions that have
received less attention are now becoming some of the biggest causes of
early deaths worldwide.
These include drug use disorders, diabetes, chronic
kidney disease and cirrhosis. Diabetes claims the lives of about 3,600
Kenyans yearly while cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease kills
approximately 4,053 and 1,500 people respectively. Drug use disorders on
the other hand, cause the death of about 700 Kenyans annually, based on
GBD 2013.
Moreover, the study stated that the gender gap in
death rates for adults between the ages of 20 to 44 years is widening
worldwide mainly due to HiV/Aids, interpersonal violence, road injuries
and maternal mortality.
The study was conducted by an international
consortium of researchers co-ordinated by the Institute for Health
Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.
It is part of an ongoing effort to produce the
timeliest and up-to-date understanding of what kills and ails people
worldwide. Thousands of collaborators globally work together to generate
annual estimates of deaths by cause, years of life lost to disability,
and rates of premature mortality and illness.
sooko@ke.nationmedia.com
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