Africa General Cross-Cutting Health Issues

General Cross-Cutting Issues: (Harvard School of Public Health, 2020)

  • HIV/AIDS (& more infectious diseases such as Ebola, Cholera, Malaria)
  • unreliable water supply
  • poverty
  • armed conflicts

Gestation:

“In 2017. Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounted for roughly two-thirds (196 000) of maternal deaths” (WHO, 2017)

“The African Region continues to have the highest birth rate among adolescents with approximately 120 births per 1000 adolescent women.” (WHO)

“Sub-Saharan Africans suffer from the highest maternal mortality ratio – 533 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, or 200,000 maternal deaths a year. This is over two thirds (68 per cent) of all maternal deaths per year worldwide. “ (WHO, 2019)

Causes of Maternal Death: (NIH Report)

  • obstetric hemorrhage
  • sepsis
  • pregnancy-induced hypertension (including eclampsia)

Maternal Mortality Rates (last recorded by WHO in 2017)

Stillbirth rate: 21.3 [ 19.4-21.3] (per 1000 total births) (WHO, 2020) GHO | By category | Stillbirth rate – Data by WHO Region.

Unborn/Newborn Deaths: (NIH, 2018)

  • perinatal asphyxia
  • neonatal infections
  • complications of preterm birth

Child and Adolescent Health:

  • drowning
  • road injury
  • congenital anomalies
  • interpersonal violence

Reproductive Years:

  • maternal conditions
  • stroke
  • HIV/Aids
  • Heart Disease

Menopause/Post-Menopause/Aging:

  • Stroke
  • Heart Disease
  • Diabetes
  • Lower Respiratory Infections

Sources for Africa Region

Cross-Cutting Issues:

Africa CDC head is driving a new public health agenda on the continent. News. (2020, March 12). Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/africa-cdc-head-is-driving-a-new-public-health-agenda-on-the-continent/

Maternal Death:

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Maternal mortality. World Health Organization. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/maternal-mortality

Rogo, K. O. (n.d.). Maternal mortality. Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. 2nd edition. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2288/

Maternal mortality rates and statistics. UNICEF DATA. (2022, January 27). Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://data.unicef.org/topic/maternal-health/maternal-mortality/

Unborn/Newborn Deaths:

Alliance for Maternal and Newborn Health Improvement (AMANHI) mortality study group. (2018, December). Population-based rates, timing, and causes of maternal deaths, stillbirths, and neonatal deaths in South Asia and sub-Saharan africa: A multi-country prospective Cohort Study. The Lancet. Global health. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6227247/

Stillborn Rates:

World Health Organization (WHO). Stillbirth rate: Data by WHO region. (2020 October 15). WHO. GHO | By category | Stillbirth rate – Data by WHO Region. Accessed January 29, 2022.  

Child and Adolescent Health:

World Health Organization. (2019). Global Health Estimates: Leading Causes of Death. World Health Organization. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-estimates/ghe-leading-causes-of-death

Reproductive Years:

World Health Organization. (2019). Global Health Estimates: Leading Causes of Death. World Health Organization. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-estimates/ghe-leading-causes-of-death

Menopause/Post-Menopause/Aging:

World Health Organization. (2019). Global Health Estimates: Leading Causes of Death. World Health Organization. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-estimates/ghe-leading-causes-of-death