The Director General of the National
Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Dr Albina Chuwa, said the drop of life
expectancy is due to deteriorating health services and increased
epidemiology in urban areas which leads to the rapid increase of the
number of deaths compared to rural areas.
Dr Chuwa made the remarks in Dar es
Salaam yesterday at the Eastern Africa Statistical Training Centre
during the celebration of 15th Statistics day in Africa, which is
usually celebrated on November 18th every year with the theme “Better
Data for Better Lives”.
“Compared to the 1978 figures, life
expectancy has increased from 48 to 62 years now, but people in urban
areas seem to have shorter lives compared to the people in rural areas,”
she explained.
“Our role as the government is to
organise ourselves with the best figures to improve the lives of all
people in the country, because through better data we can further
improve health care in urban and rural areas,” he said.
She added that as well as improving
health care in rural areas, urban areas also should be seriously
considered because according to 2012 census, 30 per cent of the
population lives in urban areas and the rest is in rural areas, while 10
out of the 30 per cent are living in Dar es Salaam.
Earlier, the Deputy Permanent Secretary
in the Ministry of Finance, Dr Adolf Mkenda, who was representing the
Permanent Secretary, Dr Servacius Likwelile as the guest of honour, said
production and dissemination of better statistics should not be left to
NBS alone if it is to bring a difference to people’s lives.
He urged stakeholders and partners in
the field of statistics to collaborate with NBS to ensure that the
necessary investments are made, adequate capacity is built and new data
sources are explored and new technologies applied to give comprehensive
information that is needed to achieve sustainable development goals.
“I call upon all stakeholders of
statistics to tirelessly provide the required information in different
statistical activities undertaken by NBS and other producers of official
statistics,” said Dr Mkenda.
He further noted that the government
will continue to support the undergoing sector reforms and offer support
in the areas of financial and human resources.
According to him, better data increases
trustworthy of users of official statistics and the public in general,
on the government side better data ensures that proper decisions are
made for social and economic development of the people at all levels.
“When approached by data collectors in
different surveys that produce official statistics, the public should
fully participate and provide credible and correct answers, this
cooperation will ensure credible result that will allow proper
development planning and hence make our lives better,” he said.
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