ISLAMABAD: The average life expectancy of Pakistani women and men has increased by almost four years and three years – 68.9 and 66.4, respectively – but illness and injury take away years of healthy life, according to the Global Burden of Disease study.

A male child born in 2016 is expected to live approximately 58.2 years in good health, while a female child will manage 59.1 years.

Iron-deficiency anaemia, migraines and back pain are the leading ailments among people in Pakistan with health problems.

The five main causes of premature death in the country are coronary artery disease, neonatal encephalopathy (among infants), diarrheal diseases, infections of the lower respiratory tract, and premature birth.

The study, published in the international medical journal The Lancet, is the result of the work of over 2,500 collaborators from more than 130 countries and territories and was coordinated by the University of Washington’s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation.

The study found that Pakistan lags behind other South Asian countries, including India, Bangladesh and Nepal, in healthy life expectancy.

Global Burden of Disease study blames excess body weight, poor diet for one in five deaths

It claims that deaths of children under the age of five, particularly stillbirths and neonatal deaths, are a persistent health challenge. Pakistan has 25.9 stillbirths per 1,000 live births – higher than the South Asian average of 17.4 and the global average of 13.1.

Pakistani neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births stand at 31.8, compared to the regional average of 23.2 and the global average of 16.7.

One of the most alarming risks highlighted by the study is excess body weight. It said the rate of illness related to people being overweight was rising quickly, and the disease burden can be found on all socio-demographic levels.

Dr Anwar Rafay, one of the authors and consultant epidemiologist and biostatistician at the Contech School of Public Health, told Dawn that although the study had been completed, the reliability of data remained a big question in Pakistan, as compared to the United States, Scandinavian countries and India, where authentic data was available.

“In Pakistan, data can only be collected from public sector hospitals. Only 30pc of patients visit public sector hospitals – 70pc of patients visit private hospitals and their data cannot be collected, so the data of 30pc patients is extrapolated. Moreover, patients who come to public sector hospitals belong to [low income] groups, so the report does not depict the situation of [high income] groups,” he explained.

To a question, Dr Rafay said efforts to improve Pakistan’s health data were ongoing. He said that currently, public sector hospitals stored data so they could determine their medicine requirements for the next month.

“If we have a proper system of recording patient data, our surveillance system will improve and we will be able to predict disease outbreaks, such as dengue, 15 days before it actually manifests. Right now, we learn about an outbreak around one month after the disease surfaces,” he said.

According to a statement, another co-author of the study from Pakistan, Dr Zulfiqar Bhutta, said that Pakistan continues to make strides increasing life expectancy, but all its South Asian neighbours are living longer, healthier lives.

“Communicable and neonatal diseases are still taking the lives of far too many young Pakistanis, and we are now also contending with rising rates of non-communicable ailments like heart disease, chronic kidney disease and different forms of cancer. We have much more work to do,” said Dr Bhutta, who is the founding director of Aga Khan University’s Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health.

Global situation

Overall data reveals that poor diet is associated with one in five deaths globally. Non-communicable diseases were responsible for 72pc of all deaths worldwide in 2016, in contrast to 58pc in 1990. Within the past decade, diabetes rose in rank order from 17th to 9th as a leading cause of death in low-middle income countries.

Tobacco is linked to 7.1 million deaths in more than a hundred countries, and smoking was among the leading risk factors for the loss of healthy life. The leading causes of premature deaths globally included ischemic heart disease, stroke, lower respiratory infections, diarrhoea-related diseases and road injuries.

Ischemic heart disease was the leading cause of premature death for males in 113 countries and for females in 97 countries.

The study shows that in 2016, 1.1 billion people were living with mental health and substance use disorders, and major depressive disorders ranked in the top 10 causes of ill health in all but four countries worldwide. Deaths from firearms, conflict and terrorism have increased globally.

Today, the average global life expectancy for women is 75.3 years, and 69.8 years for men. Japan has the highest life expectancy - 83.9 for both sexes combined, and the Central African Republic has the lowest – 50.2 years.

Overall, deaths from infectious diseases have decreased.

However, exceptions included dengue, which saw a significant increase, causing 37,800 deaths in 2016 – an 81.8pc increase since 2006, and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis, which caused 10,900 deaths in 2016 – a 67.6pc increase since 2006.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2017