Dimensions Of Population And Health In Africa 

Dinker I. Patel
Kentucky State University

Introduction

     This paper focuses on demographic and health variables, data and their characteristics for countries in Africa. Of the 6.3 billion people in the world, 861 million live in Africa. Of these 711 million live in sub-Saharan Africa and 188 million in North Africa. Africa’s population is projected to reach 1 billion by the end of the decade (2010)

Population Distribution

    The countries with the largest populations in Africa are Nigeria, Ethiopia and Egypt, with populations of 131 million, 67 million and 71 million, respectively. Other African countries which rate among the top ten in population size include the Democratic Republic of the Congo (55 million), South Africa (45 million), Tanzania (37 million), Algeria (33 million), Kenya (32 million), Sudan (31 million) and Morocco (30 million)
    Population distributed in many African countries is concentrated in ribbon like pattern on major rivers and in some coastal and rural settlements. Population densities by country provide a specific measure of the concentration of population in each country. Countries with high arithmetic densities include Mauritius (1550 persons per square mile), Mayotte (1152), Rwanda (817), Reunion (778), Comoros (735), Burundi (567), Seychelles (501), Sao Tome and Principe (475), Nigeria (375) and Gambia (344).

Physiologic Densities

    Physiologic density is a measure of the number of people in a country per unit area of agriculturally productive land. The countries and their corresponding physiologic densities are: Sao Tome and Principe (36,867), Seychelles (25,553), Liberia (9,179) Egypt (9,245), Reunion (4,373), Guinea (4,143), Tanzania (3,652), Mauritius (3,202), Sierra Leone (2,823), Rwanda (2,266), The Democratic Republic of the Congo (2,109), Comoros Islands (2,106) and Kenya (2,052).

Urban Population

    The percentage of total population living in the urban areas based on the classification used by each country. In most countries the “urban” designation includes towns of 2000 or more, and those persons living in national and provincial capitals.
     The proportion of people living in urban areas of Africa is 33 percent. The proportion of people living in less developed countries is 46 percent, compared to percent urbanization in more developed countries. Twelve African countries have more than 50 percent urban population. Twenty countries have 30 to 49 percent urban population. The remaining 24 countries tend to be rural and have below 20 percent urban population.
     The North African countries which lie in arid lands and have high coastal city concentrations are: Western Sahara (95 percent), Libya (86 percent), Djibouti (83 percent), Tunisia (63 percent) and Morocco (57 percent). Algeria and Egypt have 49 and 43 percent urban populations. In contrast Sudan has only 27 percent urban population.
     Other countries with more than half of their population living in urban places Sub-Saharan African are: Gabon (73%), Reunion (73%), Seychelles (63%), Mauritania (55%), Botswana (54%), South Africa (53%) and Cape Verde (53%).
     The more urbanized countries identified so far have somewhat higher levels of development than those that have the majority of their populations living in rural areas.
     The countries which have less than 25 percent urban population are: Rwanda (5%), Burundi (8%), Uganda (12%), Malawi (14%), Ethiopia (15%), Burkina Faso (15%), Eritrea (16%), Niger (17%), Lesotho (17%), Kenya (20%), Chad (21%), Guinea-Bissau (22%), Madagascar (22%) and Tanzania (22%).
     Agriculture based rural settlements are the norm in many of these countries where large populations are concentrated in the most productive areas, thus giving rise to the high physiologic density. For example Tanzania has a physiologic density of 3,652 persons per square mile. Other countries with high physiologic densities are Rwanda (2,226), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2,109).

Natural Population Increase

     In Africa as a whole there are 38 births per 1000 population, and 14 deaths per 1,000 population. The rate of natural increase for the continent is 2.4 percent. The countries with high birth rates and low death rates experience higher rates of natural increase. Some of these countries and their natural increase rates are: Niger (3.5%), Comoros (3.5%), Sao Tome and Principe (3.5%), Mayotte (3.2%), Chad (3.2%), Democratic Republic of Congo (3.1%), Liberia (3.2%), and Mali (3.0%). Preference for large families is apparent in most African countries. The birth rate of 38 is significantly higher in Africa that a rate of 11 or more for developed countries.

Doubling Time Estimates

     The rate of natural population increase is critical to any assessment of Africa’s social and economic problems. It is also the key variable which enables us to compute the Doubling Time of population. In general high population growth rates slow economic and social development.
     Countries with high population increase rates have lower doubling time. The countries and their doubling time are: Chad (21), Liberia (21), Eritrea (23), Angola (23), Somalia (24), Madagascar (24), Nigeria (24), Libya (28), Algeria (29). Countries projected to take longer that 30 years of doubling time include: Sudan (32), Kenya (33), Egypt (35), Morocco (35), Tunisia (44), Botswana (45), South Africa (55), Zimbabwe (69).

Infant Mortality

     While death rates for Africa average 14 per 1,000, the infant mortality rate is 88 per 1,000, compared to the infant mortality of 7 per 1,000 for developed countries. The countries with the highest infant mortality are: Mozambique (201), Sierra Leone (155), Angola (145) and Liberia (141).
     In general countries in Northern and Southern parts of Africa have lower infant mortality rates than other regions of the continent. A contributing factor in early child deaths results from malaria, which affects and estimated 300 million people each year, resulting in more than one million deaths each year. Most of the victims are children under 5 years old. (Akakpo, 2004).

Fertility Rates

     The total fertility rate variable used in this study is defined as the average number of children a woman would have during her childbearing years (15 to 49). It is assumed that the current age –specific birth rates remain constant throughout this period. Fertility rates for Africa are 5.2 children compared to 3.2 children in less developed countries, and 1.5 children for developed countries.
     Regionally, Western Africa has an average fertility rate of 5.8 children. The highest fertility rates were in Nigeria (8.0) and Mali (7.0). Other West African countries with high rates are Liberia (6.6), Burkina Faso (6.5), Sierra Leone (6.2), Guinea (6.2) and Guinea-Bissau (6.2). Nigeria, the continents most populated nation has a fertility rate of 5.8 children.
     East African countries with high fertility rates are Somalia (7.2), Uganda (6.9) and Malawi (6.5). Middle African countries with high fertility rates include the Democratic Republic of Congo (6.9), Angola (6.8) and Chad (6.6). In contrast with other regions, Southern Africa has a fertility rate of 3.0 children.

HIV/AIDS in Africa

     The proportion of population with HIV/AIDS is 6.5 percent for Africa. Regionally North Africa has a rate of 0.6 percent compared with Western Africa where 4.9 percent of the population is affected. The rates for other regions are: Middle Africa (6.3%), East Africa (9.5%), and Southern Africa (21.5%). Southern African nations have a higher concentration of HIV/AIDS afflicted population. The country specific rates for Southern Africa are: Bostwana (38.8%), Zimbabwe (33.7%), Swaziland (33.4%), Lesotho (31.0%), Nambibia (22.3%) and South Africa (20.1%). The findings of some recent AIDS research studies and initiatives to assist in HIV/AIDS programs are highlighted below.
     One study shows that “Teenage brides in some African countries are becoming infected with the AIDS virus at higher rates than sexually active unmarried girls of similar ages” (Altman, 2004) This study also noted that teenage women have cells in the cervixes which make them more susceptible to the HIV virus. The report concluded “The world needs to open up educational, economic, social and political opportunities to ensure progress in stabilizing population growth, protecting the environment and improving health”.
     Ronald L. Tobias, President Bush’s AIDS coordinator announced a five year $15 billion plan to Congress (Marquis, 2004). The global AIDS initiative would eventually provide treatment to two million HIV infected people. Nine billion dollars are to be allocated to 12 African nations which have among the world’s highest infection rates. These countries which will benefit from the aids over the next five years include: Bostwana, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
     Stephen Lewis (March 2004), UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa announced the “3 by 5” initiative from the United Nations. Mr. Lewis notes that the world Health Organization needs $200 million through 2005 to carry out its mission. These resources will provide training for 100,000 people, marshal experts to provide technical assistance, establish logistical supply lines and improve health care systems infrastructure. “There has never been a more determined plan of action” according to Mr. Stephen Lewis.

Life Expectancies

     The cumulative effect of the health problems and the higher death levels eventually contribute to a reduction in the overall life expectancies. For example the life expectancy for European countries is 66 compared to 49 for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The life expectancies for people Zambia are 37 years, Rwanda 39 years, and Malawi 40 years. The varied African environments and diverse cultures provide opportunities to examine the dynamics of health conditions of people in various regions.

References

Akakpo, Barbara “Is WHO Promoting Ineffective Drugs?” New African, March 2004.

Altman, Lawrence, “H.I.V. Risk Greater for Young Brides,” New York Times, February 29, 2004.

Marqins, Christopher, “World Briefing Africa: U.S. AIDS Plan is Under Way”, New York Times, February 24, 2004.

Lewis, Stephen, “Press Briefing”, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, New York: United Nations, January 2005.

Population Reference Bureau, World Population Data, Washington: Population Reference Bureau, 2003.

United Nations, Demographic Yearbook, New York: United Nations, 2003.