The World Health Organization have revealed that no less than 29 per cent of all deaths in Nigeria are caused by non-communicable diseases.
According to ICIR, this was disclosed on Thursday, by the WHO Country Representative, Dr Walter Mulombo, in Abuja.
Mulombo, who was represented by WHO’s Field Presence Cluster Lead Ahmed Khedr, stated that non-communicable diseases account for 29% of all deaths in Nigeria, with premature mortality from the four major NCDs — hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and malnutrition.
He emphasized that the leading noncommunicable diseases account for 22% of premature deaths.
“Although the prevalence of malaria is declining (from 42 per cent to 23 per cent), the country contributes 27 per cent of global cases and 24 per cent of global deaths.
“NCDs account for 29 per cent of all deaths in Nigeria, with premature mortality from the four main NCDs (hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and malnutrition) accounting for 22 per cent of all deaths.”
The country’s healthcare “out of pocket” spending, he continued, was 70.5% of total health spending in 2019, compared to $14.6 for government spending per person.
According to the country representative, Nigeria is home to 50% of Africa’s neglected tropical diseases and has the highest rates of malaria, paediatric HIV, and tuberculosis in the continent.
“Currently, the country bears the highest burdens of tuberculosis and paediatric HIV, while accounting for 50 per cent of neglected tropical diseases in Africa,” he said.
