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A new report released Saturday by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has indicated that life expectancy in Nigeria, Angola and other countries have remained stagnant even as it has increased over the years around the world; leading to people living more longer years in their life time as opposed to previous decades. The report which was released at the ongoing 67th World Health Assembly (WHA) taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, said “People everywhere are living longer, according to the World Health Statistics 2014 published today by WHO. Based on global averages, a girl who was born in 2012 can expect to live to around 73 years, and a boy to the age of 68. This is six years longer than the average global life expectancy for a child born in 1990.”
The report stated that “at the other end of the scale, life expectancy for both men and women is still less than 55 years in nine sub-Saharan African countries – Angola, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.”
WHO Director General, Dr. Margaret Chan, explained that “An important reason why global life expectancy has improved so much is that fewer children are dying before their fifth birthday.” Chan contended “But there is still a major rich-poor divide: people in high-income countries continue to have a much better chance of living longer than people in low-income countries.”
Though the report did clearly show Nigeria’s position, it observed that “low-income countries have made the greatest progress, with an average increase in life expectancy by 9 years from 1990 to 2012. The top six countries where life expectancy increased the most were Liberia which saw a 20-year increase (from 42 years in 1990 to 62 years in 2012) followed by Ethiopia (from 45 to 64 years), Maldives (58 to 77 years), Cambodia (54 to 72 years), Timor-Leste (50 to 66 years), and Rwanda (48 to 65 years).”
“An important reason why global life expectancy has improved so much is that fewer children are dying before their fifth birthday,” said Chan. “But there is still a major rich-poor divide: people in high-income countries continue to have a much better chance of living longer than people in low-income countries.”
Meanwhile, Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, has arrived Geneva, leading the Nigerian delegation to the 67th WHA which will primarily focus on advocacy, finding medical solution to various diseases confronting the world among others.
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