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ISSUES IN NIGERIA’S LIFE EXPECTANCY
Government should prioritise investment in health infrastructure
Life expectancy is a critical measure of development. It refers to the average number of years that a newborn could expect to live. It is crucial to assessing the health of a population and in forming health policy and initiatives that impact everyday life. According to the National Population Commission (NPC) life expectancy in Nigeria has climbed, but albeit slowly, in the past few years. And expectedly, the number of years a person is expected to live varies across the nation, perhaps determined by economic conditions, access to healthcare services, and nutrition. Even though some have questioned the current data on the true health status of the population, several authorities agree that Nigeria has one of the lowest life expectancy in the world.
Macrotrend, a research platform argues that while the global community has made strides in improving health outcomes, Nigeria continues to grapple with significant public health challenges. Indeed, health stakeholders at a recent summit with the theme, ‘Beyond 65: Preventing the Quiet Epidemic,’ argued that the road to increased life expectancy involves tackling a myriad of issues, including maternal and child health, communicable diseases, and healthcare infrastructure. But not everybody agrees with the statistics on life expectancy in Nigeria. “The criteria they use is always faulty,” contends Chief Medical Director at Prisms Health Care Limited, Dr Raymond Kuti. “They just want us to believe that we have a low lifespan,” he stated.
That may well be true, but evidence also abounds of how Nigerians die needlessly from preventable diseases. When the numerous challenges associated with healthcare delivery in the country are added to the mix, one can understand why authorities should not dismiss these negative statistics that could serve as a wake-up call. In its ‘State of the World Population 2021’ report, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) projected life expectancy for Nigerian men at 54 years and that of women, 56. But all these are projections that may not reflect the reality, which then explains why we need a proper data of the country’s population.
That poverty has become an ever-present situation in the country should be of great concern to our leaders, most of whom are used to mouthing the cliché that we have no business being poor. However, what most of them fail to understand is that poverty goes beyond the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine the quality of life. It is inclusive of educational attainment and gender inequality, for example.
Meanwhile, Nigerians are daily afflicted with a variety of diseases which shorten their life expectancy. The leading cause of death is malaria, a significant public health problem, particularly in children and pregnant women. Others are lower respiratory infections, and neonatal disorders, malnutrition, road traffic accidents, and air pollution. For instance, the impact of air pollution on life expectancy is said to be greater than that of HIV/AIDS, and almost at par with malaria and unsafe water and sanitation, and shortening the average Nigerian’s life expectancy by 1.8 years.
As a way of addressing some of these challenges, government at all levels and other stakeholders must prioritise investments in healthcare infrastructure and increase funding for health programmes as these are critical in determining life expectancy. Indeed, aside from the prevailing harsh economic environment, several deaths could be prevented with timely and effective health care, alongside preventive services. But above all, government must address the issue of poverty as it poses various problems which significantly diminish life expectancy in Nigeria.
It is therefore time for leaders to muster the political will to deal with poverty which can be eradicated if they promote economic growth, good governance and access to health care.
