A new global study has found that malaria was the leading killer disease in Nigeria, resulting in 192,284 deaths in 2015 while the second and third top causes of death in Nigeria were diarrheal diseases and Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), killing 143,689 and 131,873, respectively.
The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) study, which draws on the work of more than 1,800 collaborators in nearly 130 countries and territories, however, found that the conditions that kill are not typically those that make people sick in Nigeria. In 2015, the top three nonfatal causes of health loss were iron-deficiency anemia, low back pain, and major depression.
According to a new scientific analysis of more than 300 diseases and injuries in 195 countries published over the weekend in the journal The Lancet, a child born in Nigeria in 2015 can expect to live to the age of 65, while that child’s parent, born in 1990, has a life expectancy of 54.
The study showed that more Nigerians are living longer and healthier lives than they were 25 years ago because of higher income, education, and successful birth rates.
The study found that Nigeria has made progress in reducing the maternal mortality ratio, which fell by 39.5 per cent that is from 471 deaths per 100,000 livebirths in 1990 to 285 deaths per 100,000 livebirths in 2015.
The study also found that while malaria remains the leading cause of death in Nigeria, the number of deaths caused by malaria fell by 15.5 per cent that is from 227,645 in 1990 to 192,284 deaths in 2015.
The report was released at an event co-sponsored by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent global health research center at the University of Washington, United States (U.S.), The Lancet, and the World Bank in Washington, DC.
The study was established in 1990 with support from the World Bank. This year, researchers analyzed each country using a Socio-demographic Index, examining rates of education, fertility, and income. This new categorization goes beyond the historical “developed” versus “developing” or economic divisions based on income alone.
The six papers provide in-depth analyses of causes of death, maternal mortality, deaths of children under age five, overall disease burden and life expectancy, years lived with disability, and the risk factors that lead to health loss.
The study, however, noted that such progress is threatened by increasing numbers of people suffering from serious health challenges related to childhood wasting, unsafe water sources, and unsafe sex.