ISCHAEMIC heart disease, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were the three leading causes of death globally in 2023, according to the latest estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The estimates, released on Friday, October 2, showed that ischaemic heart disease caused 9.5 million deaths, while stroke and COPD caused 6.8 million and 3.6 million deaths respectively.
WHO said the 10 leading causes of death accounted for 33 million of the estimated 61 million deaths worldwide in 2023.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounted for 74 per cent of all deaths globally in 2023, compared with 58 per cent in 2000. Eight of the 10 leading causes of death were NCDs.
However, the picture remains different across Africa and other low-income settings, where infectious diseases continue to account for a large share of deaths.
WHO said seven of the 10 leading causes of death in low-income countries in 2023 were communicable diseases. Lower respiratory infections remained the leading cause, while malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS were also among the top 10.
The agency said this shows that many poorer countries are facing a double burden of disease, with infectious diseases still claiming lives while NCDs such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes become increasingly deadly.
In lower-middle-income countries, which include Nigeria, the top 10 causes of death in 2023 comprised five NCDs, four communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional conditions, and road injuries.
WHO said deaths from ischaemic heart disease, stroke and COPD roughly doubled in lower-middle-income countries between 2000 and 2023. Diabetes also rose sharply, moving from the 15th leading cause of death in 2000 to fifth in 2023, with deaths more than tripling.
Life expectancy recovers
The WHO estimates showed that global life expectancy reached 73.3 years in 2023, almost returning to the 73.4 years recorded in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
It noted that healthy life expectancy, however, stood at 62.8 years, 0.4 years below the 2019 level.
According to the report, COVID-19 also dropped out of the global top 10 causes of death in 2023 for the first time since the pandemic began.
The disease caused an estimated 9.4 million deaths in 2021 but accounted for about 900,000 deaths in 2023, making it the 14th leading cause of death globally.
WHO also reported a sharp rise in deaths from dementia. Alzheimer disease and other dementias became the fifth leading cause of death globally in 2023, up from 19th in 2000, while deaths from the conditions tripled.
Africa’s changing disease burden
The WHO figures point to a changing disease burden for African countries, where health systems continue to deal with infectious diseases while NCDs place growing pressure on healthcare services.
WHO said the shift towards NCDs is increasingly visible across all income levels, noting that for the first time in 2023, communicable diseases accounted for less than half of all deaths in low-income countries.
The agency said reliable data on causes of death are needed to identify health priorities, allocate resources and target interventions.
However, the quality of mortality data remains a challenge in many low-income countries.
The organisation said its latest Global Health Estimates provide comparable data on mortality and disease burden from 2000 to 2023, covering more than 160 diseases and injuries.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M