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7. TRENDS IN HEALTH
STATUS Burden of Disease-WHO/HQ
7.1. Life
expectancy
Life expectancy at birth has been increasing for both
males and females in Nepal. It has increased from 42 years for males
and 40 years for females in 1971 to 60 years for males and 61 years for
females in 2003. It is projected to
increase to 62.9 years for males and 63.7 years for females by 2006 (World
Health Report, 2005 and population projection for Nepal 2001-2021).
In Nepal, Health Adjusted Life Expectancy was 51.8 years
with 53.5 years for male and 51.1 years for female in 2002 (WHO, Core
Indicators 2005).
Related Links Life Expectancy-WHO/HQ Statistics-WHO-HQ
7.2. Mortality
Infant Mortality
Rate
The Infant Mortality Rate has declined in Nepal
from 140 per thousand live births in 1976, 64 per thousand live births in
2001 to 48 per thousand live births (Nepal Demographic and Health Survey,
2006). It is proposed to reduce IMR to 34.4 per thousand live births by 2017
(SLTHP 1997-2017).
Under-5 Mortality
The Under-five 5 mortality came down from 118 in 1997, 91
in 2001 to 61 per thousand live births (Nepal Demographic and Health Survey,
2006).
Maternal Mortality
Ratio
Maternal Mortality has come down from 475 per 100,000 live
births in 1997 to 281 per 100,000 live births in 2006 and is proposed to be
reduced to 250 per 100,000 live births by 2017 (Health Information Bulletin
2001 and NDHS 2006)
Related Links Mortality- WHO/HQ
7.3. Morbidity
Ten most common causes of morbidity at the national and
regional levels are given below:
Ten Leading Diseases
Total New Visits as a Percentage of Total
Population by Development Region
(1999-2000)
|
Sr.
No
|
Diseases
|
National
Total
|
EDR
|
CDR
|
WDR
|
MWDR
|
FWDR
|
|
1.
|
Skin
Diseases
|
5.39
|
3.60
|
5.26
|
6.08
|
4.56
|
4.97
|
|
2.
|
Diarrhoeal
Diseases
|
3.12
|
2.87
|
2.68
|
3.54
|
3.62
|
3.70
|
|
3.
|
Intestinal
worms
|
2.85
|
3.04
|
2.55
|
3.43
|
2.59
|
2.36
|
|
4.
|
Acute
Respiratory Infection
|
2.68
|
2.63
|
2.11
|
3.44
|
2.89
|
2.97
|
|
5.
|
Gastritis
|
1.79
|
1.64
|
1.43
|
2.39
|
1.95
|
1.96
|
|
6.
|
Pyrexia
of Unknown Origin
|
1.86
|
1.07
|
1.47
|
1.99
|
1.79
|
2.51
|
|
7.
|
Ear
Infection
|
1.30
|
1.26
|
1.39
|
1.23
|
1.24
|
1.30
|
|
8.
|
Chronic
bronchitis
|
0.93
|
0.81
|
0.77
|
1.18
|
1.12
|
1.03
|
|
9.
|
Anaemia
|
0.86
|
0.72
|
0.93
|
0.93
|
0.80
|
0.94
|
|
10.
|
Abdominal pain
|
0.86
|
0.73
|
0.75
|
0.95
|
1.10
|
1.08
|
It may be seen from the table that diseases vary according
to the development of various regions.
However, the WDR region in general have highest cases for skin and,
diarrhoeal diseases, intestinal worms, ARI and gastritis, while FWDR have
more cases in areas of pyrexia of unknown origin, anaemia and abdominal pain
(Health Information Bulletin 2001).
7.4. Disability
The over all disability prevalence rate in Nepal is
1.63. It is more among the males. Disability is the highest (64.3 percent)
among the working age group (15-59 years of age). A survey done in 2001 has
shown that 57.6 percent of the head of households with disabled members had
no education. Among the disabled, 22.2 percent of the economically active
people were working in the agriculture sector. Among the disabled the
following types are predominant:
1. Mobility 19.5 %
2. Speech 19.4 %
3. Hearing 19.1 %
4. Manipulation 14.8 %
5. Epilepsy 11.1 %
6. Mental
Retardation 5.9 %
7. Sight 5.6 %
8. Psychopathy
6.4 %
Disease is the main cause (30.3 percent) of all types of
disabilities, particularly in case of disabilities in sight, mobility,
hearing and metal retardation. Among the sight disabled, 10.4 percent are
born with sight defects, 62.5 percent are due to disease and 10.4 percent due
to accidents. Among the disabled people, 35.9 percent have hearing
disabilities. Among the multiple disabled, 25.5 percent have hearing
problems. The main causes of hearing disability are: congenital (57.4
percent), disease (26.4 percent) and accident (7.7 percent). Locomotor disability constitutes about 34.4 percent of
which 19.5 percent is moving disability and 14.8 percent manipulative
disability. The causes include congenital (27.3 percent), disease (36.0
percent) and accidents contributing to 25.5 percent of cases. In general 15.4
percent of all disabilities are due to accidents. Among the disables, about
70 percent went to some sort of healers (41 percent of them to doctors).
According to the Nepal Micronutrient Status Survey 1998,
the overall prevalence of current night blindness in women of reproductive
age and pregnant women was 4.7 percent and 6 percent, respectively, while
16.7 percent of women showed having night blindness during their last
pregnancy. Furthermore, the rates were
higher in rural areas. The highest
rate of night blindness cases were seen occurring in the Eastern and central Terai regions (Ministry of Health, Annual Report
2002/2003).
Related Links Disability
and Rehabilitation-WHO/SEARO Disabilities-WHO/HQ
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