Adult mortality in sub-Saharan Africa using 2001 – 2009 census data: application of different methods

Vesper H. Chisumpa, University of the Witwatersrand and University of Zambia
Oluwaseyi Somefun, University of the Witwatersrand

Adult mortality is an important development and public health issue that continues to attract attention of demographers and public health researchers. Controversies exist about the accurate level of adult mortality in sub-Saharan Africa due to different data sources and errors in data collection. To address this short coming, methods have been deployed to estimate accurately the levels of adult mortality. Using two different methods (orphanhood and widowhood) of indirect estimation of adult mortality, we examined the levels of adult mortality of ten countries in sub-Saharan Africa using census data. Results from the two different methods vary. Estimates from the orphanhood data show adult mortality rates for males are in decline in South Africa and West African countries while there is an increase in adult mortality in the East African countries for the period examined. The widowhood estimates reveal a marked increase in the female adult mortality rates compared to the males.