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. 2020 Sep 14:37:49.
doi: 10.11604/pamj.2020.37.49.23310. eCollection 2020.

Epidemiological transition and double burden of diseases in low-income countries: the case of Mozambique

Fausto Ciccacci  1 , Stefano Orlando  2 , Noorjehan Majid  3 , Cristina Marazzi  4
Affiliations

Epidemiological transition and double burden of diseases in low-income countries: the case of Mozambique

Fausto Ciccacci et al. Pan Afr Med J. .

Abstract

Epidemiological transition theory aims to describe changes in epidemiological scenarios at the global and national level. The assumption is the shift from infectious diseases (IDs) to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Some authors argue that this theory failed to describe epidemiology in sub-Saharan Africa. We considered the case of Mozambique, where is occurring a rapid demographic change, with dramatic growth of the population. According to the data, we concluded that NCDs are increasing in Mozambique, but due to the vast predominance of IDs, a double burden of disease model is more accurate to describe the actual epidemiological context of the country. Consequently, health funding focusing on IDs should take into account the concomitant epidemiological scenario and try to encompass other health challenges.

Keywords: Epidemiological transition; Mozambique; double burden of diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
demographic trends in Mozambique 1960-2017 (elaboration of data from World Bank, World Development Indicators, available at https://data.worldbank.org/indicator)
Figure 2
Figure 2
top ranking of causes of death in Mozambique in 1990 and 2017 (data from Global Burden of Diseases, available at https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/)
Figure 3
Figure 3
annual percentual change in number of deaths for non-communicable diseases and infectious diseases (elaboration of data from Global Burden of Diseases, available at https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/)
Figure 4
Figure 4
causes of deaths in Mozambique (elaboration of data from Global Burden of Diseases, available at https://vizhub.health data.org/gbd-compare/)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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