A Births and Deaths Registration Statistical Report for 2022 shows that hypertension emerged as the number one of the 10 causes of death in Ghana.
According to the report, 18,689 deaths, accounting for 36.7% of the total registered deaths which is 50,992, were attributed to the top 10 causes of mortality in the country.
Out of the 18,689 deaths recorded by the Births and Deaths Registry, hypertension accounted for 2,573.
Deaths due to pneumonia were 2,457, making it the second cause of loss of lives, while heart failure accounted for the demise of 2,225 people.
2,203 others died from acute respiratory failure, 1,679 from stroke, 1,578 from diabetes and 1558 from severe sepsis.
The rest were septic shock, 1,401 deaths; chronic liver disease, 1,103 and cancer, 1,036.
All the diseases killed more men except cancer which killed more women.
The report highlighted the vulnerability of adults and the elderly to these leading causes of death.
Pneumonia, severe sepsis, heart failure, and cancer were identified as the most dominant associated causes of death among the elderly, with percentages ranging from 49.0% to 59.0%.
Among adults, chronic liver disease, septic shock, and diabetes were identified as the most pervasive causes of death, with percentages as high as 72.0% for chronic liver disease. Stroke, on the other hand, was a common cause of death among both adults and the elderly.
Apart from cancer, which claimed more female lives, 566, as against 470 men, all the remaining diseases killed more men than women.
Hypertension-related diseases, pneumonia, and heart failure showed a notable trend, with males comprising a significant majority of the deaths attributed to these conditions.
Non-Communicable Diseases In Ghana
According to a report from the WHO in 2021, Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people globally each year, and that accounts for 71% of all deaths globally. About 15 million people between the ages of 30 and 69 years die from NCDs worldwide according to the WHO report.
NCDs pose a growing public health threat globally, and the Middle Belt region of Ghana is no exception. The burden of NCDs in the Middle Belt region of Ghana is increasing.
Lifestyle behaviours such as unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and alcohol consumption are prevalent within the middle belt of Ghana and contribute significantly to the incidence and prevalence of NCDs.
The lack of access to healthcare services and inadequate public health interventions exacerbate the burden of NCDs in the Middle Belt region.
A recent study conducted by Aryeetey et al. (2021) investigated the burden of NCDs in the Middle Belt region of Ghana. The study reported a high prevalence of NCDs, with hypertension being the most prevalent, affecting about one in three adults. Diabetes and obesity were also prevalent, affecting approximately one in ten adults. Additionally, the study found that the prevalence of NCDs increased with age, with older adults being more affected than younger adults.
A study by Dosoo, (2019) to assess the prevalence of hypertension in the middle belt of Ghana, hypertension was found to be 28.1% and the study concluded that about one-quarter of adults living within the middle belt of Ghana were hypertensive.