Table 2.
Descriptive summary of key health system indicators for African countries
| Variables | Number of countries | Median (IQR) | Minimum–maximum |
| Cummulative COVID-19 deaths | 53 | 12.0 (3.0–49.0) | 0.0–1088.0 |
| Cummulative COVID-19 deaths per million | 53 | 2.0 (0.2–6.0) | 0.0–55.0 |
| Cummulative COVID-19 cases | 53 | 820.0 (295.0–2216.0) | 0.0–37 525.0 |
| Cummulative COVID-19 cases per million | 53 | 63.0 (17.0–243.0) | 0.0–3987.0 |
| Current health expenditure as percentage of gross domestic product | 52 | 5.3 (3.9–6.9) | 2.8–13.4 |
| BCG immunisation coverage among 1 year olds (%) | 52 | 91.5 (84.0–96.5) | 52.0–99.0 |
| Early initiation of breast feeding (%) | 46 | 51.4 (35.7–65.3) | 23.0–93.1 |
| Life expectancy at birth (years) | 52 | 63.2 (59.8–66.1) | 52.9–76.4 |
| Healthy life expectancy at birth (years) | 52 | 55.7 (52.3–57.9) | 44.9–66.3 |
| Medical doctors (per 10 000 population) | 51 | 1.6 (0.8–4.0) | 0.1–25.3 |
| Nursing and midwifery personnel (per 10 000 population) | 51 | 8.8 (4.4–15.5) | 0.1–80.8 |
| Hospital beds (per 10 000 population) | 51 | 10.0 (5.0–18.0) | 1.0–36.0 |
| UHC index of service coverage | 52 | 0.5 (0.4–0.5) | 0.3–0.8 |
| Prevalence of insufficient physical activity among adults aged 18+ years | 45 | 22.1 (15.4–28.0) | 5.5–41.3 |
| Prevalence of overweight among adults | 51 | 28.9 (26.2–36.8) | 20.9–63.5 |
| Incidence of tuberculosis (per 100 000 population per year) | 52 | 175.0 (79.0–303.0) | 12.0–611.0 |
| Prevalence of HIV among adults aged 15–49 years (%) | 50 | 1.6 (0.7–4.6) | 0.1–27.3 |
BCG, Bacille Calmette-Guérin; UHC, universal healthcare.