Health
Nearly 2.7 billion people cannot have healthy diet – WHO
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that nearly 2.7 billion people worldwide still cannot afford the minimum diet needed for good health, despite improvements in access to healthy diets in recent years.
Speaking in a video posted on X on Tuesday, the WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, noted that more than 200 million additional people were able to afford a healthy diet last year compared with 2021, but said the progress remains far from sufficient.
Mr Ghebreyesus said the burden is unevenly shared, with Africa disproportionately affected, as about two-thirds of the continent’s population cannot afford a healthy diet.
Africa bears heaviest burden
Mr Ghebreyesus said Africa remains the region most affected by the high cost of nutritious food, with about two-thirds of its population unable to afford a healthy diet.
He warned that the situation is even more difficult in some of the world’s most vulnerable settings, where conflict, displacement and climate change are driving unprecedented levels of acute malnutrition, particularly among children.
According to him, while the WHO is supporting countries to respond to the immediate nutrition crisis, governments must also address the underlying factors that make healthy diets inaccessible.
“We must also act upstream. We know what works,” he said.
Policy actions
Mr Ghebreyesus outlined several measures that governments can adopt to improve access to healthy diets.
These include promoting breastfeeding, taxing unhealthy foods and drinks while subsidising healthier options, protecting children from the marketing of unhealthy industrially produced foods and beverages, introducing clear front-of-pack nutrition labelling to help consumers make healthier choices, reformulating food products to reduce salt, sugar and trans fats, and strengthening primary healthcare systems to prevent, detect and manage all forms of malnutrition.
He said implementing these interventions would make healthy diets more available, affordable and accessible to everyone.
“Healthy diets should not be a luxury. They are the foundation of health, and they should be within everyone’s reach,” he said.
Nigeria’s context
The WHO warning reflects Nigeria’s growing struggle with the affordability of nutritious foods, as rising food prices—where common protein sources often cost thousands of ₦ per unit—continue to limit access to balanced diets for many households.
READ ALSO: WHO urges Africa to expand access to hepatitis care
A balanced diet typically includes carbohydrates, proteins, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables, providing the nutrients needed for healthy growth, development and disease prevention. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), although food inflation has slowed in recent months, many nutrient-rich foods, including vegetables, fruits, eggs, fish and other protein sources, remain beyond the reach of low-income families.
The challenge has contributed to Nigeria’s persistent malnutrition burden. Findings from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2023–24 show that about 40 per cent of children under five are stunted, while eight per cent are wasted, highlighting the continued impact of poor nutrition on child health.
The affordability crisis is further compounded by insecurity in several parts of Nigeria, where conflict continues to disrupt food production, livelihoods and access to healthcare. PREMIUM TIMES has reported extensively on how armed conflict and displacement, particularly in the North-east, have worsened hunger and malnutrition by forcing families from their homes, limiting access to farmland and disrupting humanitarian assistance in affected communities.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged African governments to strengthen national hepatitis programmes and expand access to vaccination, testing, and treatment, warning that millions of people across the continent continue to miss out on life-saving services despite the availability of effective interventions.
In a statement issued ahead of World Hepatitis Day, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Mohamed Janabi, said viral hepatitis remains a major public health challenge across the region, even though new hepatitis B infections declined by 25 per cent between 2015 and 2024.
Mr Janabi noted that while effective vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments are available, many people are still diagnosed too late or cannot access care, leading to preventable deaths.
“No one should die from a disease that can be prevented, diagnosed and, in many cases, treated,” he said.
He called on governments, development partners, health workers, and communities to remove barriers preventing people from accessing hepatitis services.
“Eliminating viral hepatitis is within our reach, but only if proven interventions are available to everyone who needs them,” he said.
Bringing services closer to communities
Mr Janabi said the region already has the tools needed to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat.
According to him, the hepatitis B vaccine, introduced in the early 1990s, provides up to 95 per cent protection against infection, while reliable diagnostic tools enable early detection. He added that hepatitis C can be cured, and lifelong treatment for hepatitis B can prevent complications such as liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.
He stressed that integrating hepatitis prevention, testing, and treatment into primary healthcare would make services more accessible and affordable, while also reducing pressure on health systems.
Mr Janabi said the challenge is no longer scientific but one of political commitment, financing, and equitable access.
He noted that countries in the WHO African Region have recorded progress by expanding the universal hepatitis B birth dose vaccine, advancing the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B, and pioneering hepatitis C elimination pathways.
However, he said these gains must be sustained and expanded across all 47 WHO African member states.
Late diagnosis
Mr Janabi warned that many people living with viral hepatitis remain unaware of their infection until serious liver damage has occurred.
He attributed the problem to inadequate access to testing and treatment, particularly in underserved communities, as well as stigma and limited public awareness.
To close these gaps, Mr Janabi urged countries to integrate hepatitis services into routine healthcare throughout a person’s life while investing in research and innovation to improve access to new diagnostic tools and treatments, including for hepatitis B and hepatitis D co-infection.
He also called on development partners to sustain technical and financial support to help countries achieve the global target of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
World Hepatitis Day
Observed annually on 28 July, World Hepatitis Day raises awareness about viral hepatitis and promotes actions to prevent, diagnose, and treat the disease.
This year’s theme, “Hepatitis: Let’s break it down,” calls for breaking down financial, social, and systemic barriers that prevent people from accessing hepatitis services and accelerating progress towards eliminating the disease.
According to the WHO, viral hepatitis causes inflammation of the liver and can lead to severe complications, including liver cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer if left untreated.
Nigeria’s burden
According to the WHO, Nigeria remains one of the countries most affected by viral hepatitis globally. The organisation estimates that more than 20 million Nigerians are living with hepatitis B, hepatitis C or both, yet over 80 per cent do not know their status. Data from the 2018 Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) also showed a hepatitis B prevalence of 8.1 per cent and a hepatitis C prevalence of 1.1 per cent among adults aged 15 to 64 years.
The burden extends beyond Nigeria. WHO estimates that more than 90 million people across the African Region are living with viral hepatitis, accounting for about 26 per cent of the global burden. Despite ongoing efforts to strengthen hepatitis control programmes, PREMIUM TIMES has previously reported persistent challenges, including low testing rates, limited access to treatment, and gaps in the uptake of the hepatitis B birth dose vaccine, leaving many infections undetected until serious liver complications develop.
Against the backdrop of the region’s high hepatitis burden, Mr Janabi reaffirmed WHO’s commitment to supporting African countries in strengthening health systems and expanding equitable access to hepatitis services.
“Together, we can prevent new infections, save lives and ensure that viral hepatitis is no longer a barrier to healthier lives for the people of Africa,” he said.
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