80775
                    Global Burden of Disease: Generating Evidence, Guiding Policy
                       Main Findings from the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Edition


Overall progress has been made in postponing death
between 1970 and 2010
Across the region, each country increased its average age of
death. Great variation exists, however, with Cape Verde
demonstrating the greatest gain (about 28 years) and Chad
showing the smallest improvement (1.4 years).

Declines in mortality rates largely varied by age, with
greatest improvements for young children
Death rates for children between 1 and 4 years old declined
65% between 1970 and 2010, while mortality rates rose for
women and men at different ages (a 39% increase for
women 25 to 39 and a 50% increase for men 30 to 34).

Premature death and disability caused by
some communicable diseases and newborn
conditions has decreased, but they remain
leading causes of premature death and illness
Between 1990 and 2010, the region has
succeeded in decreasing premature death and
disability, also known as healthy years lost,
from lower respiratory infections, diarrheal
diseases and protein-energy malnutrition;
however, these conditions are still top causes
of disease burden in the region, especially in
lower-income countries like Niger and Sierra
Leone.

Malaria and HIV/AIDS are now the first- and
second-greatest causes of premature death
and disability
Malaria and HIV/AIDS accounted for more
healthy years lost in 2010 than in 1990.
However, both diseases peaked between 2000
and 2005 in most countries. In Uganda, malaria
peaked in 2005, driving 19% of premature
death and disability, and dropped to 12% in
2010.

Non-communicable diseases are rapidly rising,
especially for wealthier countries in the region
Between 1990 and 2010, healthy years lost
from causes like stroke, depression, diabetes,
and ischemic heart disease increased,
especially among higher-income countries.
Namibia experienced a 123% increase in
diabetes.

Road injuries have taken a growing toll on health in the region
Healthy years lost from road injuries increased 76% between 1990 and 2010, with substantial country variation (ranging from a
rise of 9% in Madagascar to 87% in Congo).
Disease burden attributable to
childhood risk factors has declined
Much progress has been made for
potentially avoidable risk factors
like childhood underweight,
suboptimal breastfeeding, and
vitamin deficiencies, such that their
burdens have declined between
1990 and 2010. Nonetheless, these
risk factors remain among the top
three contributors to disease
burden in the region, especially
among lower-income countries.

Potentially preventable behavioral
risk factors are contributing to
greater disease burden over time
Risk factors associated with
lifestyles, such as alcohol use and
high body mass index, contributed
to far more healthy years lost in
2010 than in 1990, especially
among upper-middle-income
countries such as Gabon and South
Africa.

GBD results allow countries to
explore areas of success and
identify areas of improvement
relative to other countries within
the region
Benchmarking exercises (like the
one to the right) can show rates of
premature mortality ranked relative
to the region’s average and
highlight the best (green) and worst
(red) performers across the
conditions that cause the most
premature mortality in the region.

Among lower- and upper-middle-
income countries (not shown),
smaller island countries like Cape
Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, and
Seychelles generally performed the
best.

Of the low-income countries,
Kenya, Mauritania, and Rwanda
generally performed the best. Burkina Faso, Mali, and Mozambique had significantly higher rates of premature mortality from
malaria, while several countries, such as Tanzania and Malawi, experienced significantly greater rates of premature mortality
from HIV/AIDS than the rest of the region.