The Global Burden of Disease: Generating Evidence, Guiding Policy – Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Edition

The Global Burden of Disease: Generating Evidence, Guiding Policy – Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Edition compares regional trends for sub-Saharan Africa and highlights intraregional differences in diseases, injuries, and risk factors. The publication gives a mixed picture of health in the region, which shows progress as well as growing challenges. Published by the World Bank and IHME, the report is based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010 (GBD 2010), a collaborative effort of researchers from 50 countries around the world led by IHME at the University of Washington.

The report finds that diarrheal diseases and lower respiratory infections drive less premature mortality than two decades ago, but these remain major causes of early death and illness for most countries in the region. In 2010, malaria and HIV/AIDS were the first- and second-leading causes of premature death and disability in the region, although some countries have shown significant progress in recent years. In the region’s higher-income countries, the burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes is rising.