• Friday, March 29, 2024
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‘Why men are more likely to commit suicide, die from accidents, AIDs, TB’

Men- life expectancy

It is often said that women outlive men everywhere in the world, but perhaps for the first time, a report by the World Health Organisation has provided statistics giving some insights into why this is the case.

The World Health Statistics 2019, which has been released to coincide with the World Health Day being observed today, had key findings indicating that; where women can access health services, maternal deaths decrease, lengthening women’s life expectancy. On the other hand, men are much more likely to die from preventable and treatable non-communicable diseases and road traffic accidents.

The gap between men’s and women’s life expectancy is narrowest where women lack access to health services. In low-income countries, where services are scarcer, 1 in 41 women dies from a maternal cause, compared with 1 in 3300 in high-income countries. In more than 90 percent of low-income countries, there are fewer than four nursing and midwifery personnel per 1000 people.

The WHO also notes attitudes to healthcare differ, and as such, where men and women face the same disease, men often seek health care less than women.  In countries with generalised HIV epidemics, for example, men are less likely than women to take an HIV test, less likely to access antiretroviral therapy and more likely to die of AIDS-related illnesses than women. Similarly, male TB patients appear to be less likely to seek care than female TB patients.

The report also highlights the difference in causes of death between men and women – some biological, some influenced by environmental and societal factors, and some impacted by availability of and uptake of health services.

Of the 40 leading causes of death, 33 causes contribute more to reduced life expectancy in men than in women. In 2016, the probability of a 30-year-old dying from a non-communicable disease before 70 years of age was 44percent higher in men than women.

Global suicide mortality rates were 75percent higher in men than in women in 2016. Death rates from road injury are more than twice as high in men than in women from age 15, and mortality rates due to homicide are 4 times higher in men than in women.

“Breaking down data by age, sex and income group is vital for understanding who is being left behind and why,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

“Behind every number in the World Health Statistics is a person, a family, a community or a nation. Our task is to use these data to make evidence-based policy decisions that move us closer to a healthier, safer, fairer world for everyone.”

The report has been published to coincide with this year’s World Health Day, focusing on primary health care as the foundation of universal health coverage. The new WHO statistics highlight the need to improve access to primary health care worldwide and to increase uptake.

Some good news however, life expectancy has improved since 2000, with the global life-expectancy at birth increasing by 5.5 years, from 66.5 to 72.0 years, between 2000 and 2016,.  Healthy life expectancy at birth – the number of years one can expect to live in full health- increased from 58.5 years in 2000 to 63.3 years in 2016.

Life expectancy remains strongly affected by income. In low-income countries, life expectancy is 18.1 years lower than in high-income countries. One child in every 14 born in a low-income country will die before their fifth birthday.

 

CALEB OJEWALE