Lower respiratory infections were the leading cause of death in Africa in 2021. Lower respiratory infections accounted for 8.6 percent of all deaths in Africa that year, followed by malaria, which was responsible for 6.5 percent of deaths. Although HIV is not one of the leading causes of death worldwide, it remains within the top 10 leading causes of death in Africa. As of 2023, the top 15 countries with the highest prevalence of new HIV infections are all found in Africa. HIV/AIDS HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is an infectious sexually transmitted disease that is transmitted via exposure to infected semen, blood, vaginal and anal fluids and breast milk. HIV weakens the human immune system, resulting in the affected person being unable to fight off opportunistic infections. HIV/AIDS was the eighth leading cause of death in Africa in 2021, accounting for around 4.6 percent of all deaths, or around 405,790 total deaths. HIV Treatment Although there is currently no effective cure for HIV, death can be prevented by taking HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART). Access to ART worldwide has increased greatly over the last decade; however, there are still barriers to access in some of the countries most impacted by HIV. The African countries with the highest percentage of HIV infected children who were receiving antiretroviral treatment were Eswatini, Lesotho, and Uganda.

In 2021, the leading causes of death in Africa were lower respiratory infections, malaria, and stroke. That year, lower respiratory infections resulted in around 65 deaths per 100,000 population in Africa. Leading causes of death in Africa vs the world Worldwide, the top three leading causes of death in 2021 were heart disease, COVID-19, and stroke. At that time, some of the leading causes of death in Africa, such as lower respiratory infections and stroke, were among the leading causes worldwide, but there were also stark differences in the leading causes of death in Africa compared to the leading causes worldwide. For example, malaria, diarrheal disease, and preterm birth complications were among the top ten leading causes of death in Africa, but not worldwide. Furthermore, HIV/AIDS was the eighth leading cause of death in Africa at that time, but was not among the top ten leading causes worldwide. HIV/AIDS in Africa Although HIV/AIDS impacts every region of the world, Africa is still the region most impacted by this deadly virus. Worldwide, there are around 40 million people currently living with HIV, with about 20.8 million found in Eastern and Southern Africa and 5.1 million in Western and Central Africa. The countries with the highest HIV prevalence worldwide include Eswatini, Lesotho, and South Africa, with the leading 20 countries by HIV prevalence all found in Africa. However, due in part to improvements in education and awareness, the prevalence of HIV in many African countries has decreased. For example, in Botswana, the prevalence of HIV decreased from 26.1 percent to 16.6 percent in the period from 2000 to 2023.

Latest data from 2017 show that Tuberculosis was with approximately ****** cases the leading cause of death in South Africa. Diabetes mellitus caused ** thousand casualties and was the second highest underlying cause of death, whereas ****** people passed away due to Cerebrovascular diseases (e.g. stroke, carotid stenosis). HIV/AIDS was the fifth ranked disease, causing ****** casualties. In total, roughly **** million people in East and Southern Africa lived with HIV in 2018, causing over ******* AIDS-related deaths.

The leading causes of death among Black residents in the United States in 2023 included diseases of the heart, cancer, unintentional injuries, and stroke. The leading causes of death for African Americans generally reflect the leading causes of death for the entire United States population. However, a major exception is that death from assault or homicide is the seventh leading cause of death among African Americans but is not among the ten leading causes for the general population. Homicide among African Americans The homicide rate among African Americans has been higher than that of other races and ethnicities for many years. In 2023, around 9,284 Black people were murdered in the United States, compared to 7,289 white people. A majority of these homicides are committed with firearms, which are easily accessible in the United States. In 2023, around 13,350 Black people died by firearms. Cancer disparities There are also major disparities in access to health care and the impact of various diseases. For example, the incidence rate of cancer among African American males is the greatest among all ethnicities and races. Furthermore, although the incidence rate of cancer is lower among African American women than it is among white women, cancer death rates are still higher among African American women.

BackgroundOf the total 56 million deaths worldwide during 2012, 38 million (68%) were due to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), particularly cardiovascular diseases (17.5 million deaths) cancers (8.2 million) which represents46.2% and 21.7% of NCD deaths, respectively). Nearly 80 percent of the global CVD deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Some of the major CVDs such as ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke and CVD risk conditions, namely, hypertension and dyslipidaemia share common modifiable risk factors including smoking, unhealthy diets, harmful use of alcohol and physical inactivity. The CVDs are now putting a heavy strain of the health systems at both national and local levels, which have previously largely focused on infectious diseases and appalling maternal and child health. We set out to estimate district-level co-occurrence of two cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), namely, ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke; and two major risk conditions for CVD, namely, hypertension and dyslipidaemia in South Africa.MethodThe analyses were based on adults health collected as part of the 2012 South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES). We used joint disease mapping models to estimate and map the spatial distributions of risks of hypertension, self-report of ischaemic heart disease (IHD), stroke and dyslipidaemia at the district level in South Africa. The analyses were adjusted for known individual social demographic and lifestyle factors, household and district level poverty measurements using binary spatial models.ResultsThe estimated prevalence of IHD, stroke, hypertension and dyslipidaemia revealed high inequality at the district level (median value (range): 5.4 (0–17.8%); 1.7 (0–18.2%); 32.0 (12.5–48.2%) and 52.2 (0–71.7%), respectively). The adjusted risks of stroke, hypertension and IHD were mostly high in districts in the South-Eastern parts of the country, while that of dyslipidaemia, was high in Central and top North-Eastern corridor of the country.ConclusionsThe study has confirmed common modifiable risk factors of two cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), namely, ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke; and two major risk conditions for CVD, namely, hypertension and dyslipidaemia. Accordingly, an integrated intervention approach addressing cardiovascular diseases and associated risk factors and conditions would be more cost effective and provide stronger impacts than individual tailored interventions only. Findings of excess district-level variations in the CVDs and their risk factor profiles might be useful for developing effective public health policies and interventions aimed at reducing behavioural risk factors including harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity and high salt intake.

The Children’s Hospitals in Africa Mapping Project (CHAMP) survey was developed and implemented to assess the capabilities of some of the best resourced sub-Saharan African hospitals serving children. The aim was to evaluate hospital facilities, infrastructure, equipment, supplies, services, staffing, and readiness to care for children amid public health emergencies. This report analysed a subset of survey questions that characterised the hospitals and assessed facilities, equipment, supplies, infrastructure and capacity to respond to emergencies and outbreaks. Twenty-four sites were recruited. Twenty hospitals from 15 countries completed the survey from 2018 to 2019. This portion of the CHAMP study identified issues with facilities, equipment, supplies, infrastructure, and the capacity to respond to emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks. On a day-to-day basis, most hospitals were operating at or near capacity and frequently experienced power outages and water shortages. Overall, most hospitals were ill-prepared to manage a major disaster or infectious disease outbreak. If countries are to be prepared to deal with current needs as well as to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to public health threats, hospitals that care for children will require significant investments.

In 2021, the leading cause of death in South Africa was COVID-19, with a distribution of 15.1 percent. Diabetes mellitus and hypertensive diseases followed, with a share of six percent and around five percent, respectively.

Background: Disease is recognized as a long term driver of ecosystem change. There is currently a lack of data on disease in South Africa, especially in protected areas. Most available information details human, livestock and large game diseases, while there is little knowledge of disease in plants, lower order vertebrates and invertebrates. Increasing habitat fragmentation, especially outside parks, results in an increased interface risk between humans and wildlife, with a greater opportunity for disease transfer. Agricultural activities could also become an important source of disease outbreaks and emerging infectious disease, especially with an increase in wildlife farming, aquaculture and mariculture. The loss of biodiversity itself, and the resulting loss of genetic diversity, species abundance and community membership, may also result in an increase in the number and frequency of outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases. The potential for interaction between habitat fragmentation, climate change and emerging infectious diseases have made active collection of disease data for protected areas a priority if unacceptable biodiversity and economic losses and livelihood threats to neighbouring communities are to be detected and, where possible, prevented.

Methods: All potential disease threats for SANParks were listed and categorized using published data and expert opinion. Information on the distribution, risk factors and records of outbreaks were gathered for the diseases deemed important (most likely to be linked to global environmental change) or are regulated by the Diseases Act (n = 15: anthrax, African swine fever, African horse sickness, avian influenza, bovine tuberculosis, botulism, bovine brucellosis, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, corridor disease, canine distemper, foot and mouth diseases, heart water, malignant catarrhal fever, rabies & rift valley fever). Summary statistics regarding the distribution of and trends in diseases were calculated from available data.

Major findings: Disease as a driver of Global Environmental Change proved to be a very challenging assessment. Reliable data on disease distribution, presence and impacts are scarce and it proved too difficult to assess where disease will act as a GEC driver. It is however clear that disease can often end up being part of the mechanism that influences populations negatively, exacerbating the impact of global environmental change. Ungulates are the group most commonly affected by the 15 diseases analyzed (probably because livestock and buffalo are tested most frequently), but some of these diseases can also spill over into their predators. Most of the disease information is present for savanna parks, mostly Kruger. This is likely because the best and most long-standing surveillance is present in these parks, as are most of the large mammals and the climate of these regions is better suited to several of the diseases. More data also occurs in areas where commercial farming is prevalent. Intensification of farming allows certain diseases to become expressed in animals where this would not happen if animals were free ranging. Surveillance and outbreak data are incomplete, making it difficult to determine trends. The data are also biased: although surveillance of disease is carried out, this is mostly conducted for controlled diseases with data collection being intensified during outbreaks. Obtaining better data is however costly and is challenged by the fact that most diseases can only be diagnosed from samples collected from post mortem of affected animals. Active surveillance is mostly prohibited by costs unless linked to a specifically funded project but passive surveillance and data repository in a central SANParks database will go a long way to record diseases that are present and to track changes over time. This does not, however, allow for predictions to be made, which this assessment was hoping to achieve.

Monitoring, management and policy implications: Recommendations from this assessment are for SANParks to develop a surveillance system for detecting disease, but more importantly, a central depository for disease data and mortality reports where incidents can be and assimilated centrally in SANParks. This is especially important in the savanna parks where most of the “top-15” diseases are present. Deciding how the disease distribution database and the trends databases from this project will be updated and included in management decision making will be an important part of this. Metadata that includes a measure of data collection effort is essential to enable detection of changes in patterns of disease outbreak. Making predictions regarding disease is difficult but regular scenario planning to interpret how other global environmental change factors will interact with disease is an important tool that can be used. A flexible and ra... Visit https://dataone.org/datasets/nicolavw.19.2 for complete metadata about this dataset.

These data consist of information on economic, social, demographic, cultural, and treatment seeking behaviour collected from former and current human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) patients in Eastern Zambia between 2004 and 2014. There are two data sets. The first dataset consists information on the economic and social impact of HAT. Information on demographics, culture, and treatment seeking behaviour was also collected. Data for this dataset were collected through structured questionnaires administered to patients themselves or their close relatives (care giver). The questionnaires were developed and delivered by experienced researchers from the University of Zambia. The data have been anonymised by removing the names of villages where the patients lived. In total, 64 cases were included in the study. Verbal consent was obtained prior to commencing all questionnaires. The second dataset consists of anonymised transcripts of focus group discussions conducted with health workers, people who have suffered from HAT and their relatives or friends. Seven to ten people were included per discussion group, providing information on concepts, perceptions and ideas relating to the social consequences of HAT. A total of eight focus group discussions were conducted during the study. Focus group discussion data were analysed using inductive approaches and thematic coding carried out by two independent researchers. All transcripts were anonymised and personal identifiers were removed to protect patients' individual data. Verbal consent was obtained prior to commencing all interviews. Focus group interviews were carried out by experienced researchers from the University of Zambia. The data were collected to determine the economic and social consequences of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) in Eastern Zambia. This research was part of a wider research project, the Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa Consortium (DDDAC), and these data contributed to the research carried out by the consortium. The research was funded by NERC project no NE/J000701/1 with support from the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation Programme (ESPA).

The Children’s Hospitals in Africa Mapping Project (CHAMP) survey was developed and implemented to assess the capabilities of some of the best resourced sub-Saharan African hospitals serving children. The aim was to evaluate hospital facilities, infrastructure, equipment, supplies, services, staffing, and readiness to care for children amid public health emergencies. This report analysed a subset of survey questions that characterised the hospitals and assessed facilities, equipment, supplies, infrastructure and capacity to respond to emergencies and outbreaks. Twenty-four sites were recruited. Twenty hospitals from 15 countries completed the survey from 2018 to 2019. This portion of the CHAMP study identified issues with facilities, equipment, supplies, infrastructure, and the capacity to respond to emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks. On a day-to-day basis, most hospitals were operating at or near capacity and frequently experienced power outages and water shortages. Overall, most hospitals were ill-prepared to manage a major disaster or infectious disease outbreak. If countries are to be prepared to deal with current needs as well as to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to public health threats, hospitals that care for children will require significant investments.

In 2022, the mortality rate in Southern Africa was highest in Lesotho, with around 14 deaths per thousand population. Conversely, Botswana had the lowest rate, with approximately seven deaths per thousand population.

The project, based at the University of Greenwich, UK and Stellenbosch University, South Africa, aimed to examine epidemiologic transitions by identifying and quantifying the drivers of change in CVD risk in the middle-income country of South Africa compared to the high-income nation of England. The project produced a harmonised dataset of national surveys measuring CVD risk factors in South Africa and England for others to use in future work. The harmonised dataset includes microdata from nationally-representative surveys in South Africa derived from the Demographic and Health Surveys, National Income Dynamics Study, South Africa National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health, covering 11 cross-sections and approximately 156,000 individuals aged 15+ years, representing South Africa’s adult population from 1998 to 2017.

Data for England come from 17 Health Surveys for England (HSE) over the same time period, covering over 168,000 individuals aged 16+ years, representing England’s adult population.

This study uses existing data to identify drivers of recent health transitions in South Africa compared to England. The global burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on health is increasing. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in particular are the leading causes of death globally and often share characteristics with many major NCDs. Namely, they tend to increase with age and are influenced by behavioural factors such as diet, exercise and smoking. Risk factors for CVD are routinely measured in population surveys and thus provide an opportunity to study health transitions. Understanding the drivers of health transitions in countries that have not followed expected paths (eg, South Africa) compared to those that exemplified models of 'epidemiologic transition' (eg, England) can generate knowledge on where resources may best be directed to reduce the burden of disease. In the middle-income country of South Africa, CVD is the second leading cause of death after HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB). Moreover, many of the known risk factors for NCDs like CVD are highly prevalent. Rates of hypertension are high, with recent estimates suggesting that over 40% of adults have high blood pressure. Around 60% of women and 30% of men over 15 are overweight in South Africa. In addition, excessive alcohol consumption, a risk factor for many chronic diseases, is high, with over 30% of men aged 15 and older having engaged in heavy episodic drinking within a 30-day period. Nevertheless, infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS remain the leading cause of death, though many with HIV/AIDS and TB also have NCDs. In high-income countries like England, by contrast, NCDs such as CVD have been the leading causes of death since the mid-1900s. However, CVD and risk factors such as hypertension have been declining in recent decades due to increased prevention and treatment. The major drivers of change in disease burden have been attributed to factors including ageing, improved living standards, urbanisation, lifestyle change, and reduced infectious disease. Together, these changes are often referred to as the epidemiologic transition. However, recent research has questioned whether epidemiologic transition theory accurately describes the experience of many low- and middle-income countries or, in fact, of high-income nations such as England. Furthermore, few studies have empirically tested the relative contributions of demographic, behavioural, health and economic factors to trends in disease burden and risk, particularly on the African continent. In addition, many social and environmental factors are overlooked in this research. To address these gaps, our study will use population measurements of CVD risk derived from surveys in South Africa over nearly 20 years in order to examine whether and to what extent demographic, behavioural, environmental, medical, social and other factors contribute to recent health trends and transitions. We will compare these trends to those occurring in England over the same time period. Thus, this analysis seeks to illuminate the drivers of health transitions in a country which is assumed to still be 'transitioning' to a chronic disease profile but which continues to have a high infectious disease burden (South Africa) as compared to a country which is assumed to have already transitioned following epidemiological transition theory (England). The analysis will employ modelling techniques on pooled cross-sectional data to examine how various factors explain the variation in CVD risk over time in representative population samples from South Africa and England. The results of this analysis may help to identify some of the main contributors to recent changes in CVD risk in South Africa and England. Such information can be used to pinpoint potential areas for intervention, such as social policy and services, thereby helping to set priorities for governmental and nongovernmental action to control the CVD epidemic and improve health.

The Children’s Hospitals in Africa Mapping Project (CHAMP) survey was developed and implemented to assess the capabilities of some of the best resourced sub-Saharan African hospitals serving children. The aim was to evaluate hospital facilities, infrastructure, equipment, supplies, services, staffing, and readiness to care for children amid public health emergencies. This report analysed a subset of survey questions that characterised the hospitals and assessed facilities, equipment, supplies, infrastructure and capacity to respond to emergencies and outbreaks. Twenty-four sites were recruited. Twenty hospitals from 15 countries completed the survey from 2018 to 2019. This portion of the CHAMP study identified issues with facilities, equipment, supplies, infrastructure, and the capacity to respond to emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks. On a day-to-day basis, most hospitals were operating at or near capacity and frequently experienced power outages and water shortages. Overall, most hospitals were ill-prepared to manage a major disaster or infectious disease outbreak. If countries are to be prepared to deal with current needs as well as to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to public health threats, hospitals that care for children will require significant investments.

The Children’s Hospitals in Africa Mapping Project (CHAMP) survey was developed and implemented to assess the capabilities of some of the best resourced sub-Saharan African hospitals serving children. The aim was to evaluate hospital facilities, infrastructure, equipment, supplies, services, staffing, and readiness to care for children amid public health emergencies. This report analysed a subset of survey questions that characterised the hospitals and assessed facilities, equipment, supplies, infrastructure and capacity to respond to emergencies and outbreaks. Twenty-four sites were recruited. Twenty hospitals from 15 countries completed the survey from 2018 to 2019. This portion of the CHAMP study identified issues with facilities, equipment, supplies, infrastructure, and the capacity to respond to emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks. On a day-to-day basis, most hospitals were operating at or near capacity and frequently experienced power outages and water shortages. Overall, most hospitals were ill-prepared to manage a major disaster or infectious disease outbreak. If countries are to be prepared to deal with current needs as well as to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to public health threats, hospitals that care for children will require significant investments.

African Union Regional Collaborating Centre Of The Africa Centre For Disease Control & Prevention Import Export Turnover 2.14 and 0.00 USD Million during August 2024 to July 2025. Also check supply chain analytics, top import and export commodities with price, buyers, suppliers, main competitors of African Union Regional Collaborating Centre Of The Africa Centre For Disease Control & Prevention in Kenya.

The Children’s Hospitals in Africa Mapping Project (CHAMP) survey was developed and implemented to assess the capabilities of some of the best resourced sub-Saharan African hospitals serving children. The aim was to evaluate hospital facilities, infrastructure, equipment, supplies, services, staffing, and readiness to care for children amid public health emergencies. This report analysed a subset of survey questions that characterised the hospitals and assessed facilities, equipment, supplies, infrastructure and capacity to respond to emergencies and outbreaks. Twenty-four sites were recruited. Twenty hospitals from 15 countries completed the survey from 2018 to 2019. This portion of the CHAMP study identified issues with facilities, equipment, supplies, infrastructure, and the capacity to respond to emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks. On a day-to-day basis, most hospitals were operating at or near capacity and frequently experienced power outages and water shortages. Overall, most hospitals were ill-prepared to manage a major disaster or infectious disease outbreak. If countries are to be prepared to deal with current needs as well as to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to public health threats, hospitals that care for children will require significant investments.

The global respiratory disease testing market size is projected to grow from USD 8.95 billion in 2025 to USD 16.98 billion by 2033, exhibiting a CAGR of 8.33%.
Report Scope:

In 2022, Uganda had the highest number of confirmed malaria cases and deaths in Southern Africa, with around **** million and *** thousands reported, respectively. Burundi followed with the second-highest amount of cases, with over *** million. However, South Sudan recorded the second-highest number of deaths related to the disease, with ***** fatalities. Africa is the region most affected by malaria in the world, with around 91,300 deaths attributed to the disease in the same period.

South Africa In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Market size was valued at USD 0.6 Billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 2.1 Billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 16.95% during the forecast period 2024-2031.

South Africa In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Market Drivers

Rising Prevalence of Chronic and Infectious Diseases: South Africa faces a high burden of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers, alongside infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), South Africa has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates globally. The need for accurate and efficient diagnostic tools to monitor and manage these diseases has fueled demand for IVD solutions, including molecular diagnostics, immunoassays, and point-of-care (POC) testing.

Growing Awareness of Preventive Healthcare: Increasing public awareness about the importance of early disease detection and preventive healthcare has significantly boosted the IVD market. Campaigns by government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) emphasize regular screenings for conditions such as cervical cancer and diabetes, encouraging the adoption of diagnostic tests. Early diagnosis not only improves patient outcomes but also reduces the overall burden on the healthcare system, further driving the use of IVD technologies.

Advancements in Diagnostic Technologies: Technological innovations in the IVD sector are a significant growth driver. Next-generation sequencing (NGS), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and advanced immunoassays are enabling faster, more accurate, and cost-effective diagnostics. Automated systems and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven diagnostic tools are improving efficiency in laboratories and healthcare facilities. These innovations cater to South Africa’s growing demand for reliable diagnostics in a resource-constrained environment.