KEY FACTS Joined Commonwealth: 1960 (suspended 1995–99) Population: 173,615,000 (2013) GDP p.c. growth: 2.6% p.a. 1990–2013 GNI p.c.: US$2,710 (2013) UN HDI 2014: World ranking 152 Life expectancy: 53 years (2013) Under-five mortality rate (per 1,000 live births): 117 (2013) Largest contribution to mortality: Respiratory infections Government health expenditure: 1.9% of GDP (2012) General information The Federal Republic of Nigeria lies on the Gulf of Guinea and has borders with Benin (west), Niger (north), Chad (north-east across Lake Chad) and Cameroon (east). It comprises the Abuja Federal Capital Territory and 36 states. Climate: Tropical; hot and humid on the coast, with greater extremes of temperature inland and cold nights in the north during December–January. The rainy season is generally March–November in the south and May–September in the north. In the dry season, the harmattan wind blows from the Sahara. Environment: The most significant environmental issues are rapid deforestation, soil degradation and desertification. Population: 173,615,000 (2013); 46 per cent of people live in urban areas and 15 per cent in urban agglomerations of more than a million people. The population growth rate stood at 2.6 per cent p.a. between the years of 1990 and 2013. In 2013 the birth rate was 41 per 1,000 people (47 in 1970) and life expectancy was 53 years (40 in 1970). Nigeria is one of the most ethnically diverse countries. There are some 250 ethnic groups, with the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo making up 70 per cent. Economy: Nigeria is classified as a lower-middle-income economy by the World Bank. Health Child and maternal health: Infant mortality in Nigeria was 74 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013, with an under-five mortality rate of 117 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013. There has been a consistent decline in the under-five mortality rate since 1995. While this decline is encouraging, the under-five mortality rate is not yet in line with the country’s target of 71 deaths per 1,000 live births as defined by Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4). In 2010 the three most prominent causes of death for children below the age of five years were malaria (20 per cent), acute respiratory infections (16 per cent) and prematurity (12 per cent). Other contributory causes were intrapartum-related complications (11 per cent), diarrhoea (ten per cent), birth neonatal sepsis (five per cent), injuries (four per cent), HIV/AIDS (three per cent), congenital anomalies (three per cent) and measles (one per cent). In 2013 Nigeria had an adjusted maternal mortality ratio of 560 deaths per 100,000 live births (this figure was estimated at 630 deaths per 100,000 by UN agencies/World Bank in 2010). Burden of disease: Communicable diseases along with maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions accounted for an estimated 66 per cent of all mortality in Nigeria in 2012. The prevalence of HIV in Nigeria, as a percentage of people aged 15–49 years, was 3.2 per cent in 2012. There was no notable overall change in HIV prevalence in the period 2000–09. However, the period 2010–12 has seen a consistent and gradual decrease in the prevalence of the disease. In 2010 there were 551,187 reported cases of malaria. Confirmed cases of malaria rose in the period 2001–11, while numbers of deaths fell slightly before almost doubling in 2011–12. There has been an overall increase in the estimated incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the period 1990–2013 and a slight decrease in estimated mortality (when mortality data excludes cases comorbid with HIV) from the disease in the period 1990–2013. There was a brief outbreak of Ebola in Nigeria in 2014, but the country won international praise when it quickly brought the disease under control by declaring a national public health emergency as soon as the first case was identified. Only eight people died before the country was declared Ebola free. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounted for an estimated 24 per cent of all mortality in 2012. The most prevalent NCDs in Nigeria are cardiovascular diseases, which accounted for seven per Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015 229 Nigeria
Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015
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