Reforms lift Kenya’s rank in healthy States index

Kenya is among the healthiest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), according to the 2019 edition of the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index.

Kenya moved 13 places to 113 compared to the 2017 ranking. The Bloomberg Healthiest Countries Index analyses factors that contribute to populations' overall health and well-being in 169 countries.

According to Bloomberg, the index grades countries based on life expectancy, rates of obesity, tobacco use and environmental factors including access to clean water and sanitation.

In the SSA region, Kenya ranked third after Mauritius (74), which dropped one place from the previous gauge, and Cape Verde (94).

North-African countries far surpassed SSA region in the 2019 edition of the biennial report. Tunisia came first at 59 followed by Algeria (64) and Morocco (68) to close the top three list of healthiest countries in Africa.

Reduced mortality by diseases and injuries, increased access to healthcare and a modest life expectancy are among the factors that saw Kenya rise.

According to the latest data available from the World Health Organisation (WHO) on life expectancy at birth, Kenya outperforms most countries in the region, only trailing North African countries, Cape Verde, Seychelles and Mauritius.

Other factors that contributed include low behavioural risks as compared to other countries in the region. The behavioural metrics include tobacco and alcohol consumption, high blood pressure, obesity, mental health, access to vaccination services, physical activity and childhood nutrition.

Based on data from WHO, Kenya’s alcohol consumption is one of the lowest in the region at 3.4 litres while Nigeria, which is ranked as the third most unhealthy country globally, consumes an average of up to 13.4 litres of pure alcohol.

Data from the Interior ministry indicate that about 5,000 people perish annually because of alcoholism.

Data by the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA) released last year show that around 2.8 million Kenyans are struggling with alcohol-related problems, a prevalence rate of 10.4 percent.

The risk of young people dying from non-communicable diseases (NCD) as a result of some of the behavioural risks in the country is 18 percent, another factor that may be holding the country from performing better in the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index.

The percentage of teenagers who smoke in Kenya, according to Global Tobacco Youth Survey, is about 10-20 percent. This is among the highest and concerning in the continent considering that majority of adult smokers develop the habit in their teenage years.

Also, the data used by Bloomberg to generate the index places Kenya as one of the African countries with the lowest suicide mortality rate per 100,000 population, only beaten by Sao Tome and Principe as well as Algeria.

While the government has made significant efforts to increase access to vaccination services, Kenya with only 32 percent coverage still falls behind a number of countries. Seychelles leads the park at 99 percent of the population being able to get vaccines.

On the environmental metrics, which were as well used to determine healthiness of countries, Kenya is lagging behind in terms of access to clean water and sanitation. The WHO says that about 52 people per 100,000 die as a result of poor hygiene and lack of clean water and sanitation.

The index, which analyses data from the WHO, United Nations Population Division and World Bank, placed Spain as the healthiest country in the world followed by Italy and Iceland respectively.

Of the top 10 countries in this year’s Index, only Japan (4), Australia (7) Singapore (8) and Israel (10) are not from Europe. The United States and China, the world leading economies, were placed 35 and 52 respectively.

Other countries ahead of Kenya included Libya (97) and Egypt (99). In the East Africa, Rwanda ranked 117, Tanzania (122), Uganda (147) and Burundi (157).

Most African countries in SSA ranked lower than some war-torn countries such as Syria (104) and Iraq (118) in what could indicate the poor state of healthcare on the continent.

Also, from the report, the two largest economies in Africa, Nigeria and South Africa, were outperformed by many countries.

Out of the top 30 unhealthiest countries in the world, SSA region accounted for 27 with Sierra Leone (169), Cote d'Ivoire (168) and Nigeria (167) recording a drop from the previous ranking. Yemen, Haiti and Afghanistan were the only countries outside the region at the bottom of the list.

Overall, the Bloomberg survey noted that the eating habits of some of the countries at the top could not be ignored. The Mediterranean diet in Spain and Italy could hold the secret of living long among other factors.