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Tag: Life Expectancy

  • New report reveals how women live longer than men in Nigeria

    New report reveals how women live longer than men in Nigeria

    The 2024 State of the Nation Report has revealed life expectancy in Nigeria. Though improving, the report revealed that life expectancy in Nigeria remains below the global average.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the 2024 State of the Nation Report revealed life expectancy in Nigeria is at 54.6 years.

    According to the report, life expectancy for women is 54.9 years, while for men, it is 54.3 years, reflecting ongoing health challenges in the country.

    Globally, life expectancy stands at 73.3 years for both genders, with women projected to live up to 76 years and men 70.7 years.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines life expectancy as “the average number of years that a newborn could expect to live if they were to pass through life exposed to the sex and age-specific death rates prevailing at the time of their birth, for a specific year, in a given country, territory, or geographical area.”

    The State of the Nation report noted that the slight disparity between genders was consistent with global trends, where women generally live longer than men.

    However, Nigeria’s life expectancy remained below the global average, underscoring the need for continued investment in healthcare and public health initiatives.

    “Communicable diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis contribute significantly to the disease burden, negatively impacting overall health outcomes and life expectancy,” the report noted.

    Citing the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS 2023/2024), it highlighted that the fertility rate, at 4.8 children per woman, though gradually declining, remained among the highest in the world.

    It said the rate was higher in rural areas (5.6) compared to urban areas (3.9), reflecting disparities in access to education and healthcare.

    The report said urbanisation continued at a rapid pace, with 54 per cent of Nigerians now living in urban areas, driven by the search for better economic opportunities and access to essential services.

    However, it said the shift had brought challenges, including infrastructure strain, pollution, and the growth of informal settlements, particularly in rapidly expanding cities like Abuja.

    Economically, it said Nigeria had seen notable growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which reached N60.9 trillion with a growth rate of 3.19 per cent in 2024, up from 2.98 per cent in 2023.

    In spite of this growth, it said the benefits remained unevenly distributed, with 63 per cent of Nigerians living in multidimensional poverty and facing challenges in health, education, and living standards.

    It said gender and age disparities persisted, with women, particularly in rural areas, facing higher poverty levels, limited access to healthcare, and lower educational attainment compared to men.

    The report also noted that the unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 24 years was high, at 8.4 per cent, with young women being disproportionately affected.

    “These socioeconomic disparities have far-reaching implications for health outcomes, as poverty and unemployment are closely linked to poor health and limited access to healthcare services,” the report emphasised.

    The report, a publication of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of Nigeria’s health status.

    It draws from a wide range of sources to offer insights into public health, health policies, and social determinants of health.

    It seeks to guide policymakers, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders in their efforts to improve health outcomes for all Nigerians.

  • Life expectancy rate increases from 2020 to 2022 – NBS

    Life expectancy rate increases from 2020 to 2022 – NBS

    The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says there has been an upward trend in the life expectancy of both males and females from 2020 to 2022.

    This is according to the NBS Statistical Report on Women and Men in Nigeria 2022 released in Abuja on Wednesday.

    The NBS said the statistical report analysed the status of women and men across Nigeria from 2020 to 2022 using statistics from agencies at the Federal and state levels.

    The report covered six key economic policy domains: Population, Health, Education, Employment, Power and Decision-Making in Governance, and Violence Against Women and Crime.

    The report said the life expectancy of females in 2020 was 56.6 years, it increased to 56.9 years in 2021 and 57.2 years in 2022.

    It said the life expectancy for males in 2022 was 54.6 years, it increased to 54.8 years in 2021, and 55.1 in 2022.

    The NBS said according to the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS)/National Immunisation Coverage Survey (NICS) report, Nigeria recorded 75 live births per 1,000 women among adolescents.

    “Under-five mortality rate stood at 102 per 1,000 live births, the adolescent fertility rate was 75 live births per 1,000 women and the crude birth rate was 31.7 live births per 1,000 women.”

    “In addition, the neonatal mortality rate in Nigeria was 34 per 1,000 live births, while the infant mortality rate stood at 63 per 1,000 live births.”

    Also, the 2021 MICS/NICS report showed that the percentage of pregnant women who attended antenatal care and were seen at least once by skilled health personnel was 69.60 per cent.

    The report said the percentage of females aged 15 to 49 with knowledge of HIV in 2022 was 74.01 per cent and 70.70 per cent for males.

    “The percentage of females with access to anti-retroviral treatment was 66.46 per cent in 2020, which decreased to 64.99 per cent in 2021, and 64.00 per cent in 2022.”

    The report showed that there were more male medical doctors compared to female doctors in Nigeria.

    “The percentage of female doctors in 2020 was 36.03 per cent, which increased to 37.16 per cent in 2021 and declined to 35.42 per cent in 2022.

    The report said that the percentage of female dentists in Nigeria was below 50 per cent across the period under review.

    It said since independence, no woman has been appointed as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

    The report also showed there were more male judges in the Federal Courts in 2020, 2021, and 2022 with 168, 184, and 191 compared to the female judges with 79, 92, and 92, respectively.

    The NBS said 67.31 per cent of females and 77.35 per cent of males were employed in Q4 of 2022 in Nigeria.

    The report said the underemployment rate of females in Q4 2022 stood at 16.70 per cent, compared to males at 11.00 per cent.

    It said the percentage of unemployed females in Q4 2022 stood at 6.60 per cent, while the percentage of unemployed males was 4.00 per cent.

    The report said according to the National Directorate of Employment data, the percentage of females who benefited from the Enterprise Development Programme was 59.81 per cent in 2020.

    “It declined to 11.14 per cent in 2021 and increased to 55.00 per cent in 2022.”

    The report said females were the highest beneficiaries in the National Open Apprenticeship Scheme (NOAS) in 2020, 2021, and 2022 with 54.94 per cent, 57.86 per cent, and 61.93 per cent, respectively.

  • Why life expectancy has shortened globally – Cleric

    Why life expectancy has shortened globally – Cleric

    The Executive Secretary, Plateau Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Rev. Fr. George Gorap, has said that life expectancy has reduced globally due to lack of peace.

    Gorap said this while receiving a delegation of National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) in Jos on Thursday.

    He stated that world peace has drastically reduced which he said was endangering the society.

    “Life expectancy has reduced due to lack of peace in Nigeria and the world at large.

    “The global peace index which was released recently and indicated that world peace has drastically dropped and the world has become less peaceful every year and this is endangering the society.” he said.

    Gorap stated that pilgrimage was an important aspect of a Christian life and one of the major platforms for peace-building, a call to prayer for unity and oneness of faith, respect for human life and peaceful co-existence.

    He said that pilgrimage could transform the human person for the good of the society as it draws people closer to God and could contribute to the peace that the society was in need of.

    Gorap while admonishing Christians to value the importance of pilgrimage, said that the journey was aimed at building faith, spiritual transformation, moral soundness and to facilitate our preparedness for our final heavenly journey to God.

    He tasked journalists to be objective in their reportage and write after a thorough research and investigation.

    Earlier, the state chairperson, NAWOJ, Mrs Nene Dung, while commending the executive secretary for lifting the board to greater heights, stated that NAWOJ was established to promote and advocate the rights of female journalists, vulnerable women and less-privileged.

    Dung enjoined the board to always consider women during its activities.

    “We applaud the efforts and the demonstration of the sense of responsibility by the Executive Secretary of this Board in lifting this place to greater heights within a short period, but we also see the need for a gender sensitive representation when it comes to some activities, this will boost our morale,” she said.

  • WHO pegs life expectancy in Nigeria at 55 years

    The 2018 average life expectancy for Nigerians is now 55 years, a global data shows.
     
    According to the latest World Health Organisation data published for 2018 life expectancy in Nigeria, a male given birth to in Nigeria in 2018 is expected to live approximately 54.7 years while a female is expected to live approximately 55.7 years in good health.
    The data shows Nigeria has a World life expectancy ranking of 178 out of 192 ranked countries.
     
    However, the average life expectancy at birth in Nigeria is 55.2 years, an improvement from the previous figure, 47.
     
    Meanwhile, the released statistical report by Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for 2017 has it that females can live for approximately 51 years while males can live for just 47 years.
     
    The report shows that residents in Nigeria are liable to die of sicknesses and diseases, as well as other causes.
     
    Causes of death listed in the report are influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, diarrhoeal diseases, stroke, HIV/AIDS, coronary heart disease, liver disease, prostate cancer, diabetes mellitus, maternal conditions, malaria, breast cancer, meningitis, cervical cancer, lung disease and low birth weight.
     
    Other causes include accident, road traffic and birth trauma among others.
     
    A study published last week had said life expectancy in Nigeria can increase to 74.8 years by 2040.
     
    The study, “Forecasting life expectancy, years of life lost, and all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 250 causes of death: reference and alternative scenarios for 2016–40 for 195 countries and territories using data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016,” was carried out by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).
     
    IHME is an independent global health research organisation at the University of Washington that provides rigorous and comparable measurement of the world’s most important health problems and evaluates the strategies used to address them.