Responding to Africa's burden of disease: accelerating progress

Epidemiol Infect. 2023 Jun 20:151:e114. doi: 10.1017/S0950268823000997.

Abstract

Although Africa is home to about 14% of the global population (1.14 billion people), it is growing three times faster than the global average [1]. The continent carries a high burden of disease, but there has been real progress in eradication, elimination, and control since 2015. Examples are the eradication of wild polio in 2020 [2] and the eradication or elimination of neglected tropical diseases, such as dracunculiasis in Kenya in 2018; Human African trypanosomiasis in Togo in 2022; and trachoma in Togo, Gambia, Ghana, and Malawi in 2022 [3]. New HIV infections reduced by 44% in 2021 compared to 2010 [4], and in 2021 the African region passed the 2020 milestone of the End TB Strategy, with a 22% reduction in new infections compared with 2015 [5].

MeSH terms

  • Cost of Illness
  • Disease Eradication
  • Dracunculiasis* / epidemiology
  • Ghana / epidemiology
  • HIV Infections* / epidemiology
  • HIV Infections* / prevention & control
  • Humans
  • Poliomyelitis* / epidemiology
  • Poliomyelitis* / prevention & control