African countries have made huge gains in life expectancy. Now that could be erased.
The incidence of diseases such as diabetes and hypertension is increasing rapidly in most sub-Saharan countries, but these conditions are rarely diagnosed or treated.< /p>< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">NAIROBI, Kenya — Hannah Wanjiru suffered from dizziness and headaches for years. After half a dozen costly visits to the doctor, he was finally diagnosed with high blood pressure. It took two more years - and some fainting spells - before she started taking medication. By then, her husband, David Kimani, was shuttling between doctors himself and ended up with a diagnosis of diabetes, another condition the couple knew nothing about.
They might have wished for different diseases. Not far from their small apartment in the Kenyan capital, there is a public hospital where treatments against HIV. and tuberculosis are provided free of charge. Free Posters H.I.V. prevention services line the streets of their low-income neighborhood.
There is no such program for high blood pressure or diabetes, nor for the cancer or chronic respiratory diseases. Health systems in Kenya and much of sub-Saharan Africa – and the international donations that support them – are strongly linked to the treatment of communicable diseases such as HIV. and malaria.
"Sometimes I go get my sugars tested and wait all day and almost pass out right there in the queue" , said Mr. Kimani.< /p>
Success in the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and other deadly infectious diseases, as well as an expansion of essential services, have helped countries in sub-Saharan Africa make extraordinary gains in healthy life expectancy over the past two decades - another 10 years, the largest improvement in the world, the World Health Organization recently reported. health.
"But this has been offset by the dramatic increase in hypertension, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases and the lack of health services targeting these diseases," the agency said, launching a report on health care in Africa. It warned that the increase n of life expectancy could be wiped out before the end of the next decade.
Non-communicable diseases now account for half of hospital bed occupancy in Kenya and more than a third of deaths. Rates are similar in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, and people in this region are affected at a younger age than those in other parts of the world.
The drugs and supplies that Ms. Wanjiru, 44, and Mr. Kimani, 49, need to control their condition cost $60 per month, that's a big chunk of their small convenience store's income,” Ms. Wanjiru said over tea in their living room. Both skip their meds in the months when school fees are due for their four children.
"I have headaches and I feel weak, then I I feel stressed knowing that I have to buy medicine I...
The incidence of diseases such as diabetes and hypertension is increasing rapidly in most sub-Saharan countries, but these conditions are rarely diagnosed or treated.< /p>< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">NAIROBI, Kenya — Hannah Wanjiru suffered from dizziness and headaches for years. After half a dozen costly visits to the doctor, he was finally diagnosed with high blood pressure. It took two more years - and some fainting spells - before she started taking medication. By then, her husband, David Kimani, was shuttling between doctors himself and ended up with a diagnosis of diabetes, another condition the couple knew nothing about.
They might have wished for different diseases. Not far from their small apartment in the Kenyan capital, there is a public hospital where treatments against HIV. and tuberculosis are provided free of charge. Free Posters H.I.V. prevention services line the streets of their low-income neighborhood.
There is no such program for high blood pressure or diabetes, nor for the cancer or chronic respiratory diseases. Health systems in Kenya and much of sub-Saharan Africa – and the international donations that support them – are strongly linked to the treatment of communicable diseases such as HIV. and malaria.
"Sometimes I go get my sugars tested and wait all day and almost pass out right there in the queue" , said Mr. Kimani.< /p>
Success in the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and other deadly infectious diseases, as well as an expansion of essential services, have helped countries in sub-Saharan Africa make extraordinary gains in healthy life expectancy over the past two decades - another 10 years, the largest improvement in the world, the World Health Organization recently reported. health.
"But this has been offset by the dramatic increase in hypertension, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases and the lack of health services targeting these diseases," the agency said, launching a report on health care in Africa. It warned that the increase n of life expectancy could be wiped out before the end of the next decade.
Non-communicable diseases now account for half of hospital bed occupancy in Kenya and more than a third of deaths. Rates are similar in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, and people in this region are affected at a younger age than those in other parts of the world.
The drugs and supplies that Ms. Wanjiru, 44, and Mr. Kimani, 49, need to control their condition cost $60 per month, that's a big chunk of their small convenience store's income,” Ms. Wanjiru said over tea in their living room. Both skip their meds in the months when school fees are due for their four children.
"I have headaches and I feel weak, then I I feel stressed knowing that I have to buy medicine I...
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