By: Mohamed Jalloh
The current life expectancy for Sierra Leone in 2022 is 55.55 years a 0.67% increase from 2021.This is according to the human development index (HDI) report 2022. In 2019 it was 54.44 years, a year improvement within 3 years. A clear indication that people can now boast of having access to clean water, proper food resources and a balance diet, increase in education about hygiene and an increase in medical resources and trained medical personnel.
Sierra Leone was renowned of having one of the worst maternal and infant mortality rates but with little over four years since president Bio took over the mantle of power, the country has experienced a marked improvement.
This is against a backdrop of a current birth rate of 31.600 births per 1000 people, a 1.65% decline from 2021.In 2019 it was 33.194 births per 1000 people, a 1.57% decline from 2018 when president Bio was elected. On the other hand the present infant mortality rate for Sierra Leone is 72.253 deaths per 100 live births, a 2.86% decline from 2021.
In 2019, the death rate stands at 78.643 deaths per 1000 live births representing about 6000 decrease since 2019. Whiles the existing fertility rate is 3.949 births per woman, a 2.28 decline from 2021.
This is against a background of health expenditure including healthcare goods consumed every year, and health care spending for 2022 stands at $46, a 4.27% increase.
In 2023 it is expected that the country will experience another upsurge and development in life expectancy, when the human development index report will be launched.
It should be noted that the Western Urban area has a better life expectancy than those in the rural areas. The HDI is a composite statistic of three basic dimensions of human development, life expectancy, education and per capita income which is used to assess annually the state of human development worldwide and rank 195 countries by measuring their individual progress using the HDI report.
