Life Expectancy In sub-Saharan Africa Research Articles

Resource dependence and life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa: Does financial sector stability break the curse?

Natural resource wealth can contribute to human and economic development if the revenues from natural resource sectors are effectively invested by the government. In particular, countries with abundant natural resources have the potential to experience significant development and improvements in their quality of life. This study first examines the impact of natural resource rents on life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa. We then investigate the moderating role of the financial sector in this relationship. Using mainly the Generalized Moments Method in a panel of 44 Sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1990–2021, the results obtained in this paper reveal a negative effect of natural resource rents on life expectancy, supporting the resource curse-health hypothesis. However, the stability of the financial system moderates this relationship and makes it positive, at specific thresholds. These results are consistent with Hirschman's conjecture that production leakage is low in landlocked countries, but that there are stronger links with public revenues than with other sectors of activity. The ‘wealth channel’ lubricated by the financial sector that this study identifies calls for greater caution when adopting non-rentier policies in countries exploiting their natural wealth, specifically countries with low human capital. We suggest that a portion of resources should be allocated to financing human capital in order to increase life expectancy.

Epidemiology of geriatric orthopaedic injuries in a tertiary hospital in southwestern Nigeria

Life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has increased owing to economic growth and improvements in medical care. An increased representation of older people among orthopaedic trauma victims is a significant consequence of population ageing, as shown in previous studies, including few in SSA. This retrospective review in Nigeria aims to corroborate previous studies and highlight the emergence of geriatric orthopaedic trauma (GOT) as a public health concern in SSA. Among 241 orthopaedic trauma in-patients aged ≥ 60, the mortality rate was 3.7%. They made up 21.2% of adult orthopaedic trauma admissions. The incidence of GOT increased steadily over the five-year study period with a spike during COVID-19 lockdown. Males constituted 51%. Mean age was 72.5 years (range, 60–105 years). Mean distance to the hospital was 35.8 km and 50.6% lived farther than 10 km. The main causes of injury were falls (50.6%) and traffic crashes (48.1%). Fractures were the predominant (91.7%) injuries. Univariate analyses revealed significant differences along age and gender stratifications. Longer distance to the hospital significantly delayed presentation. The study supports previous studies and shows that GOT is evolving as a public health concern in SSA. The 2030 Sustainable Development agenda is apt to stem the trend.

Short-term effects of national-level natural resource rents on life expectancy: A cross-country panel data analysis.

While a substantial amount of literature addresses the relationship between natural resources and economic growth, relatively little is known regarding the relationship between natural resource endowment and health at the population level. We construct a 5-year cross-country panel to assess the impact of natural resource rents on changes in life expectancy at birth as a proxy indicator for population health during the period 1970-2015. To estimate the causal effects of interest, we use global commodity prices as instrumental variables for natural resource rent incomes in two-stage-least squares regressions. Controlling for country and year fixed effects, we show that each standard deviation increase in resource rents results in life expectancy increase of 6.72% (CI: 2.01%, 11.44%). This corresponds to approximately one additional year of life expectancy gained over five years. We find a larger positive effect of rents on life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) compared to other world regions. We do not find short-term effects of rents on economic growth, but show that increases in resource rents result in sizeable increases in government revenues in the short run, which likely translate into increased spending across government sectors. This suggests that natural resources can help governments finance health and other development-oriented programs needed to improve population health.

Life Expectancy in Sub-Sahara Africa: An Examination of Long-Run and Short-Run Effects

The realization of the factors that influence life expectancy is crucial for attaining longevity. In this paper, we examine the long-run and short-run determinants of life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The determining variables include, inflation, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, food production, human capital and health expenditure. The estimation technique used are Pedroni cointegration and pool mean group regression. The results from the Pedroni cointegration show that the variables exhibit long-run relationship. The outcome from the pool mean estimation group confirms that in the long-run inflation and CO2 emission have significantly negative effect on life expectancy while GDP per capita, food production, human capital and health expenditure have a significant and positive influence on life expectancy. It also reveals that in the short-run inflation and food production do not have any impact on life expectancy. The findings recommend that various governments in SSA should increase their public health spending, formulate policies that will discourage CO2 emission and the use of clean energy and food production should be enhanced through modernized agricultural practices.

Does economic freedom improve health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of economic freedom on four key health indicators (namely, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, under-five mortality rate and neonatal mortality rate) by using a panel dataset of 34 sub-Saharan African countries from 2005 to 2016.Design/methodology/approachThe study obtains data from the World Development Indicators (WDI) of the World Bank and the Fraser Institute. It uses fixed effects regression to estimate the effect of economic freedom on health outcomes and attempts to resolve the endogeneity problems by using two-stage least squares regression (2SLS).FindingsThe results indicate a favourable impact of economic freedom on health outcomes. That is, higher levels of economic freedom reduce mortality rates and increase life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa. All areas of economic freedom, except government size, have a significant and positive effect on health outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsThis study analyses the effect of economic freedom on health at a broad level. Country-specific studies at a disaggregated level may provide additional information about the impact of economic freedom on health outcomes. Also, this study does not control for some important variables such as education, income inequality and foreign aid due to data constraints.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that sub-Saharan African countries should focus on enhancing the quality of economic institutions to improve their health outcomes. This may include policy reforms that support a robust legal system, protect property rights, promote free trade and stabilise the macroeconomic environment. In addition, policies that raise urbanisation, increase immunisation and lower the incidence of HIV are likely to produce a substantial improvement in health outcomes.Originality/valueExtant economic freedom-health literature does not focus on endogeneity problems. This study uses instrumental variables regression to deal with endogeneity. Also, this is one of the first attempts to empirically investigate the relationship between economic freedom and health in the case of sub-Saharan Africa.

Official development assistance, income per capita and health outcomes in developing countries: Is Africa different?

In this study, we investigate the effect of official development assistance and income per capita on health outcomes in developing countries. Health outcome is proxied by life expectancy and under-5-mortality rate. We accounted for the endogeneity problem in the model by employing a dynamic two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator. We find that official development assistance does not improve health outcome in developing countries, while income per capital significantly improves health outcome in developing countries. The study reports that CO2 emission is not a significant determinant of health outcome in developing countries but the prevalence of HIV and Immunization significantly determines health outcomes in developing countries. More specifically the prevalence of HIV increases the under-5-mortality rate and decreases life expectancy; immunization increases life expectancy but decreases under-5-mortality rate. It was equally revealed in the study that health outcome in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) does not significantly differ from health outcomes in other developing countries. We equally reported that the effect of income per capita on health outcome in Sub-Saharan Africa countries is not significantly different from that of non-SSA countries. The effect of official development assistant on health outcome in SSA was found to be significantly different from non-SSA countries. The study reveals that the effect of ODA on life expectancy in SSA is less compared to its effect on non-SSA countries. Similarly, the effect of ODA on under-5-mortality is higher in SSA countries as against other non-SSA countries.

Financial Development and Health Outcomes in Sub-Saharan African Countries

Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are faced with health human capital challenges that include high child mortality rates, low life expectancy and disease burden due to challenges in health care financing among other factors. The study sought to determine the effect of financial development on child health outcomes and life expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries. It posits that financial development leads to improved health outcomes through several causal channels that include income, education, credit access and risk management. The financial development variables used in the study aimed to capture access and depth dimensions of a financial sector and understand their respective impact on health outcomes. Financial access was measured using the number of ATMS and commercial bank branches per 100 000 people. Broad money and bank credit to private sector to GDP ratios were used to measure financial depth. In addition to the financial development variables, the study controlled for the effects of access to basic infrastructure, real GDP per capita, education level and health system financing mechanisms among other variables using a health production function approach. The study used random and fixed effects as well instrumental variable estimation methods. The regression analysis was carried out using data from 1995 to 2014 for 46 SSA countries. The results of both the random and fixed effects as well as the 2SLS estimation approaches confirmed our hypothesis that financial development leads to better health outcomes. The results showed that financial development leads to a reduction in under-five years' mortality rate as well as increasing life expectancy. Other variables which are statistically significant include real GDP per capita, level of education, access to basic infrastructure and health financing mechanism. These findings imply that policy makers must craft and implement policies that promote financial development in order improve national health outcomes. The policies must aim at both deepening and widening of the financial sector to ensure inclusive financial development. Other policies must aim at promoting economic growth, infrastructure and promoting prepaid health financing systems.

Energy consumption habits and human health nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This study explores the impact of fossil fuels consumption, solid fuels consumption for cooking purposes, economic growth, and carbon emissions on human health, with a key emphasis on the occurrence of tuberculosis and the high mortality rate in Sub-Saharan Africa. For its practical insights, the study develops a system Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) for a panel of 34 middle- and lower-middle-income countries from 1995 to 2015. The study adopts a flexible methodology to tackle endogeneity in the variables. The robust results report that the use of solid fuels (charcoal, peat, wood, wood pellets, crop residues) for cooking purposes and the consumption of fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas) are significantly increasing the occurrence of tuberculosis. In addition, the results highlight that the consumption of both solid fuels and fossil fuels has adverse affects on life expectancy by increasing the mortality rate in Sub-Saharan African countries. Results report that renewable energy sources like sun, wind, and water (all with potential to prevent households from direct exposure to particulate matters and harmful gases) as well as a rise in economic growth serve as helping factors to control the occurrence of tuberculosis and to decrease the mortality rate. Moreover, the use of renewable energy sources is serving to lessen emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxides, and particulate matters, which can ultimately decrease the mortality rate and extend the life expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Effect of PM2.5 from Household Combustion on Life Expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Household fuel combustion, especially using solid combustibles (biomass and fossil fuels), for cooking and other activities produces emissions that contribute to concentrations of indoor as well as outdoor air pollutants such as particulate matter with diameter smaller than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) that deteriorate health and likely affect life expectancy (LEX). This study investigates the impact of PM2.5 from household combustion on LEX considering several covariates while controlling for ambient PM2.5 generated by other sectors. The generalized method of moments (GMM) model and the panel cointegration model were applied to a dataset of 43 Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries over the time period of 1995–2010. Both approaches provide similar results indicating that household PM2.5 is significantly and negatively associated with higher aggregate LEX in the long-run, and, to a greater degree for female’s. Also, among the control variables, PM2.5 from the transport sector has a greater influence on male’s LEX. Thus, efforts should be combined to reduce household PM2.5 since lower levels are associated with increased LEX.

The Missing Men: HIV Treatment Scale-Up and Life Expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Missing Men: HIV Treatment Scale-Up and Life Expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Life Expectancy in Africa: Back to the Future?

In this issue, Mills and colleagues, using models based on patient-level data, conclude that life expectancy for young HIV-infected adults in Uganda who initiate combination antiretroviral therapy ...

Life Expectancy of Persons Receiving Combination Antiretroviral Therapy in Low-Income Countries: A Cohort Analysis From Uganda

Little is known about the effect of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) on life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa. To estimate life expectancy of patients once they initiate cART in Uganda. Prospective cohort study. Public sector HIV and AIDS disease-management program in Uganda. 22 315 eligible patients initiated cART during the study period, of whom 1943 were considered to have died. All-cause mortality rates were calculated and abridged life tables were constructed and stratified by sex and baseline CD4 cell count status to estimate life expectancies for patients receiving cART. The average number of years remaining to be lived by patients who received cART at varying age categories was estimated. After adjustment for loss to follow-up, crude mortality rates (deaths per 1000 person-years) ranged from 26.9 (95% CI, 25.4 to 28.5) in women to 43.9 (CI, 40.7 to 47.0) in men. For patients with a baseline CD4 cell count less than 0.050 × 10(9) cells/L, the mortality rate was 67.3 (CI, 62.1 to 72.9) deaths per 1000 person-years, whereas among persons with a baseline CD4 cell count of 0.250 × 10(9) cells/L or more, the mortality rate was 19.1 (CI, 16.0 to 22.7) deaths per 1000 person-years. Life expectancy at age 20 years for the overall cohort was 26.7 (CI, 25.0 to 28.4) additional years and at age 35 years was 27.9 (CI, 26.7 to 29.1) additional years. Life expectancy increased substantially with increasing baseline CD4 cell count. Similar trends are observed for older age groups. A small (6.4%) proportion of patients were lost to follow-up, and it was imputed that 30% of these patients had died. Few patients with a CD4 cell count greater than 0.250 × 10(9) cells/L initiated cART. Ugandan patients receiving cART can expect an almost normal life expectancy, although there is considerable variability among subgroups of patients. Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Three faces of international inequality

Recent studies of international inequality have focused mostly on the trend in international income inequality. This article extends the analysis of international inequality to also include inequalities in education and health. Analyses of time-series data for more than 100 countries show that international income inequality declined from 1980 to 2003 as several large, poor Asian countries outpaced many Western countries in national income growth. By contrast, international health inequality followed a U-shaped trend, falling in the 1980s before rising in the 1990s. The turnaround in health inequality coincides with a trend of declining life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa. International educational inequality experienced the sharpest recent decline, spurred by the global expansion of formal schooling. These findings confirm that there is more to international inequality than income inequality alone and suggest that patterns of inequality in the current era of globalization are likely more complex than many leading theories suggest.

Basic Facts About HIV And AIDS

Basic Facts About HIV And AIDS

HIV/AIDS Situation in Africa

The HIV/AIDS pandemic marks a severe development crisis in Africa, which remains by far the worst affected region in the world. Forty-two million people now live with HIV/AIDS of which 29.4 million (70.0%) are from sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 5 million new infections occurred in 2002 and 3.5 million (70.0%) of these were also from sub-Saharan Africa. The estimated number of children orphaned by AIDS living in the region is 11 million. In 2002, the epidemic claimed about 2.4 million lives in Africa, more than 70% of the 3.1 million deaths worldwide. Average life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa is now 47 years, when it would have been 62 years without AIDS. HIV/AIDS stigma is still a major problem despite the extensive spread of the epidemic. A complex interaction of material, social, cultural and behavioural factors shape the nature, process and outcome of the epidemic in Africa. However, too many partners and unprotected sex appear to be at the core of the problem, Even if exceptionally effective prevention, treatment and care programmes take hold immediately, the scale of the crisis means that the human and socio-economic toll will remain significant for many generations. Although 70% of people living with HIV/AIDS are in Africa, only 6,569 (4.7%) of the 140,736 scientific publications on HIV/AIDS, from 1981 to 2000, are directly related to Africa. Effective responses to the epidemic require a multisectoral approach, including governments, the business sector and civil society.

Commercial Publishing's Response to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: A Report on a UNESCO/CAPNET Workshop

Background * The highest rates of prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world occur in sub-Saharan Africa. * Approximately 24 million adults and children are infected with HIV/AIDS. * The overall prevalence rate among adults is 8%. * Prevalence rates of above 10% occur in 16 countries, with Botswana (39%) and South Africa (20%) among the highest. However, Uganda (one of the identified success stories in efforts to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS) has a prevalence rate of 5%, with Senegal (another quoted success story) at 0.5% of the adult population. * Average life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa has already fallen to 47 years, and continues to fall. The reported HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the Caribbean is now the second highest in the world (after sub-Saharan Africa). It is at above 2% of the population, with the number of people reported to be living with HIV/AID above 360,000, although it must be emphasised that these figures are estimated to be UNDER-reported by as much as 40%. The pandemic is no longer a health issue only - having an increasingly profound effect on any country's development potential. To date, no cure for HIV/AIDS has been found. However, in countries where reversal has been achieved of the general trend of dramatic increase in the spread of the pandemic, education - for prevention - has been found to be the key. Education for prevention is essentially not about information dissemination only, but focuses most importantly on behaviour change. The UNESCO-CAPNET Initiative Among increasingly multi-sectoral efforts to combat the spread of the pandemic, the UNESCO Office for the Caribbean - and the Caribbean Publishers Network (CAPNET) - felt it important to begin a process of discussion among publishers on our role in combatting the spread of HIV/AIDS. To this end, a workshop was organised by UNESCO/ CAPNET with inputs from 2 consultants, with specific focus on the sharing of experiences in HIV/AIDS Education, and Publishing for HIV/AIDS Education, from sub-Saharan Africa. Barriers to Publishing For HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa Despite acknowledged necessity for multi-sectoral, multiple-partner responses to HIV/AIDS, to the best of my knowledge the Publishing Sector has not formally been invited to participate in prevention initiatives. Some, although not all, publishers in sub-Saharan Africa have therefore taken the initiative to involve themselves in some form or another in HIV/AIDS prevention - and to publish an extensive range of materials for all levels of HIV/AIDS Education. These efforts have often been undertaken in a context in which Ministries of Education have yet to establish, or clarify, or implement, HIV/AIDS Education strategies and initiatives in and out of school. For this reason, the efforts of the UNESCO Office for the Caribbean to invite and encourage responses from the Publishing Sector at the Annual Conference of CAPNET of prevention initiatives must be applauded. Opportunities for Caribbean Publishers As commercial publishers, authors, illustrators, etc, even if we accept - and after we have accepted - our basic and fundamental responsibility and obligation to contribute to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in our community, concerns remain about commercial viability and sustainability of publishing for HIV/AIDS. …

Medical education for the doctors of tomorrow

A commonly held belief is that most students enter medicine because of their compassionate desire to treat the sick irrespective of personal gain. Sadly, this is not the case, at least in developed countries, where the promise of status and financial reward loom large in the minds of many from the outset. Teachers must try to counteract this corrupting materialism; after all, most patients would prefer to be treated by a vocational healer, not a health economist. Today's medical curriculum must be changed to anticipate the health needs of tomorrow's world; what are these likely to be? In the next 50 years, the world's population will increase from 6 billion to almost 10 billion. In most developed countries except the USA, population growth will soon shudder to a halt, with some countries like Japan and Germany going into population decline. Age structures will become increasingly top-heavy with senior citizens. Since most lifetime expenditure on health occurs in our twilight years, this provides a strong financial incentive to develop expensive medical and surgical treatments for the diseases of old age. Treatment is far more profitable than prevention, and this is reflected throughout the medical curriculum; specialisation is now the name of the game. Private medical schools are springing up around the world, driven by the profit motive, and health-insurance schemes struggle in vain to keep pace with the ever-increasing costs of treatment. The situation in developing countries could hardly be more different. Their populations will increase by over 3 billion in the next 50 years, but life expectancy in subSaharan Africa will start to decline as a result of AIDS. As natural resources dwindle in the face of growing population pressure, people will become poorer and poorer. Thus, while western populations are dying later from the ills of affluence, people in developing countries will increasingly succumb to diseases that we have long since conquered. When will we realise that prevention is better than cure? Even in developed countries, simple lifestyle changes could do more to improve general health than any number of new drugs and hospitals. In developing countries, disease prevention through improvements in hygiene and the provision of primary health-care is the only affordable option. And the burgeoning population of young people means that the emphasis must be on health for youth; start well, stay well should become their motto. Medical students could play an integral part in this fight against disease, since they have a new skill at their fingertips: computer literacy. The internet can be a powerful way of enabling young people around the world to access the latest information, and develop their own culturally appropriate health-promotion messages. Already, Medical education for the doctors of tomorrow

AIDS cuts life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa by a quarter

AIDS cuts life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa by a quarter

Presidential mission to Africa

The US Secretary of Health and Human Services visits 8 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to determine what needs to be done by the US and the world to improve health and further child survival in Africa. AIDS is the most significant health problem. Indeed as many as 10 million children will be infected with AIDS by 2000. Moreover AIDS may even increase child mortality rates in Africa 50% thereby reducing life expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa to 19 years. This may occur despite profound progress in health in the 4 decades since 1950. Cross national influences socioeconomic development and national health strategies have been largely responsible for any progress. The US Department of Health and Human Service and other governments are devoting much resources to studying the causes and prevention of AIDS and HIV related diseases. Indeed Africa receives the largest proportion of funds for international AIDS activities. USAID contributes $14 million to AIDS prevention and child survival in Uganda and $242000 to the Township AIDS Programme in Soweto South Africa for AIDS prevention and treatment. Strong policies and systems should center on sustainability for primary health care and child survival programs. African health workers must have access to public health information and resources. The international medical community should work to improve medical education in Africa such as building and staffing more medical schools. Medical schools in Africa need to incorporate primary care education into the curriculum. Another means to improve the quality of medical graduates is for the US to support their schooling both in Africa or the U.S. In fact a US based organization provides such opportunities for black students from South Africa where only 900 black physicians serve >27 million blacks.