Algerians likely to live longer now; but will they live healthier?
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Loading... - Hakim Taleb
- 10 Aug 2022
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Life expectancy in Africa has risen by a decade, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced August 4, 2022; the remarkable feat, however, may lead to a spike in non-communicable diseases (NCD), according to public health experts.
‘Healthy life expectancy’ is the number of years an individual is in a good state of health. The experts said while the development on Africa was welcome and a positive one, it did not necessarily mean that all was going to be well.
“This was long expected as there has been progress on not just health but all social indices including gender. The spectacular jump may not be entirely unexpected,” Rajib Dasgupta, professor at the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Down To Earth.
“What this could mean therefore is that in the next two decades, Africa is going to see a big jump in NCDs just like India is witnessing currently,” he added.
Dasgupta said overtime, the elderly population and therefore, not just NCDs but rehabilitative needs were also going to increase.
“At the same time, there is going to be a lot of inequity and hence, this so-called ‘double burden’ will continue for quite some time. Just because infectious diseases have been brought under control does not mean it is over. There would be these unfinished agenda,” he added.
Monika Arora from the Public Health Foundation, said improvement of health services and control of infectious diseases did lead to improvement in life expectancy.
“But in addition, one also needs to look at the NCDs. Because as life expectancy increases so do NCDs,” she said.
Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases were all related to lifestyle and were caused by tobacco use, alcohol intake, physical activity as well as the kind of nutrition that was being provided to the population.
“Whenever any continent or country sees an improvement in life expectancy, NCD prevention and control should be the focus of local health systems. This because management of NCDs is very expensive and can cause healthcare costs to rise,” Arora noted. Read More...
