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Health News of Monday, 13 July 2020

Source: Punch Healthwise

More males died in Lagos between Jan and June –NPC

Descriptive purpose only Descriptive purpose only

The National Population Commission data reporting deaths in the 20 local government areas of Lagos State shows that more deaths were recorded among males, compared to females, between January and June this year.

According to the data, Surulere Local Government Area of Lagos State recorded 480 deaths in the first six months of the year, being the highest figure among the 20 LGs.

The data, obtained by PUNCH HealthWise from the Lagos State Director of NPC, Mr. Muftau Akanni Adigun, shows a breakdown of deaths per local government from January to June.

According to the data, the 480 people that died in Surulere LG (303 males and 177 females) were more than double the number of deaths recorded by the two closest LGs captured in the document.

The data, however, indicated only the sexes of the deceased persons without indicating the causes of their death or ages — both of which demographers consider germane in data reporting.

The NPC data for 2020 also has no record of death for any LG in the state for the month of April, a situation that was not explained in the document.

The two other local governments with next high death figures, according to the data, are Lagos Mainland and Alimosho, both recording 133 deaths each.

However, one constant element in the data, as presented, is that more male deaths were recorded across most of the local governments.

For instance, while 91 of the 133 deaths that occurred in the Mainland LG were male, 42 were female.

Similarly, 83 of the 133 deaths recorded in Alimosho LG were male, while the figure for female deaths in the LG was 50.

The other LG with high figures, according to the NPC data, were Ajeromi (123, comprising 77 males and 46 females;) Ojo (118 — 80 males and 38 females); Ikorodu (118 — 76 males and 42 females.

Again, in Agege LG, there were 114 deaths comprising 72 males and 42 females; Ikeja LG (93 — 60 males and 33 females); Eti Osa LG (93 — 53 males and 40 females.

Others are, Oshodi — 89 deaths comprising 52 males and 38 females; and Mushin LG (82 deaths of which 56 were males and 26 were females).

Others are Kosofe (66) 45 males 21 females; Lagos Island (54) 31 males and 23 females; Amuwo Odofin (49) 31 males and 18 females; Badagry (42) 29 males 13 females; Ifako Ijaiye (9) 7 males and 2 females and Apapa (6) 4 males and 2 females.

The NPC data for the state in 2019 did not show much difference.

The 2019 data, also made available to PUNCH HealthWise, showed that Surulere LG recorded more deaths in the year with 515 deaths comprising 319 males and 156 females.

The number of dead persons in Surulere LG, according to the NPC, is more than any other local government in the state; with Ikeja LG recording the next high death figures of 158 comprising 97 males and 61 females.

In 2019, the other local governments with high deaths figures, according to NPC data, are Eti-Osa LG, with 133 deaths; Ikorodu, 127 and Alimosho 108.

Why death rates are higher among men

Speaking with PUNCH HealthWise on why more men than women died in the first six months of 2020 in Lagos, Consultant Pathologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Dr. Francis Faduyile, said previous statistics showed that men die earlier than women because men do the more risky jobs and travel more than women.

Continuing, Faduyile said, “Men have more social vices than females and these are risky behaviours that predispose those who are involved to die prematurely.

“We must also know that men, generally, have more severe diseases, compared to women. For instance, women tend to tolerate hypertension more than men.”

He noted that when men die, their deaths affect the economy of the home in particular, and that of the society at large. “Men take leadership positions in the society because they are seen as leaders and breadwinners.

“There is going to be a lot of effects if men die prematurely. The effects are evident on their children, family and community at large.”

Also speaking on the importance of the NPC data, President, College of Nigerian Pathologists, Prof. Philip Olatunji, said knowing the number of deaths will help the nation to do proper planning and also enable the country to know the life expectancy of its citizens.

“We belong to a global community and the most important use of data is to plan; but if you don’t have those important data, you cannot plan.

“The data will help in knowing how old or young the people who die are. When we want to look at life expectancy, it is this data that will help us to know how to plan for the nation.

“For instance, if we know the number of children that are delivered, we will be able to plan for that generation.”

Olatunji, who is also a professor of haematology, emphasised the need to educate local governments about the importance of data collection.

“The only way to get data is for the country to be organised, particularly at the local government level. A lot of people in this country bury their loved ones without getting the appropriate certificate.

“The only reason most people in the country go for documentation of deaths is if property is involved or if the deceased left something behind. That’s when people will be conscious that they need proper documentation; but once those benefits are not there, they will bury their loved ones as quickly as possible.

“We must, however, ensure that our local government system is working. It should be set up in such a way that those in charge of the wards could take responsibility, because there is no way the Federal Government will know who dies on any street; but if the local government system is working properly, they will know about the cause of deaths and the number of people who die,” Olatunji said.

According to him, people will not report case of death to the local government area if they benefit nothing from it.

“They will feel that if the local government is not beneficial to them, there is no need to report death cases to them. Unless the local government is working in a way that it is close to the people, nobody will report any case [of death] to them.

Poor data generation

“The reason we have poor data in the country is that people do not know the importance of reporting data. “The government needs the data to plan, but if the tiers of government closest to the people are not well-structured and organised, nobody will think that it is important to give such a report.”

When asked what might be the possible reasons there was no death recorded in April in Lagos, Prof. Olatunji said it could be due to the lockdown on account of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

“It could be because everybody was consumed with COVID-19. There was a lockdown and everything was done quietly and secretly in that month and nobody wanted to share such information,” he said.