Nigeria has recorded notable improvements on several major health and wellness indicators over recent decades, with the World Bank reporting that life expectancy at birth increased by 19% from 46 years in 1998 to 54.7 years in 2019.
Notably, according to the “2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey”, published in collaboration with the FMH, the UN and the World Health Organisation (WHO), among others, the under-five mortality rate reached 132 per 1000 live births that year, down from more than 200 in the early 2000s. Early childhood mortality stems mainly from preventable diseases such as malaria, malnutrition, diarrhoea and measles.
Malaria, in particular, remains one of the most pressing public health issues in Nigeria; the country accounts for 25% of global malaria cases, which puts additional strain on the public health system. Measles, for its part, incurred some N480bn in out-of-pocket medical expenses, prevention expenditure and working hours in 2014, according to the FMH.
HIV/AIDS is another significant health issue in the country, with HIV prevalence in adults measuring approximately 1.4% in 2019, according to government statistics. The health system has, however, made steady progress in increasing access to treatment, with the number of HIV-positive patients with access to anti-retroviral therapy increasing from 360,000 in 2010 to more than 1m by 2018.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the primary cause of death in the country, accounting for 29% of the total in 2018, according to the WHO, led by heart disease (11%), cancer (4%), chronic respiratory disease (2%) and diabetes (1%). World Bank figures, meanwhile, put deaths from NCDs at 27% of the total in 2019, up from 20.5% in 2000 and 24% in 2010.
The rise in NCDs since the beginning of the century is largely attributable to factors consistent with macroeconomic development – namely, longer life expectancy, less healthy diets, insufficient exercise, air pollution, and alcohol and tobacco use.
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