Africa carries a rapidly growing share of the world's chronic disease burden, often with the least infrastructure to manage it. Here is the evidence behind why HubPharm exists, and what our own data shows about closing that gap.
Methodology: figures below are drawn from WHO, WHO AFRO, the IDF Diabetes Atlas, GLOBOCAN/IARC, UNAIDS/NAIIS, and peer-reviewed studies indexed on PubMed/PMC. Each figure is cited. HubPharm's own outcomes figures are marked separately as internal programme data.
The conditions HubPharm's coordinated care model is built around, and the documented burden behind each one.
25 million adults in Africa live with diabetes (1 in 20), and 73% are undiagnosed, the highest undiagnosed rate of any IDF region. Nigeria alone had 3.0 million adults with diabetes in 2024, projected to reach 6.6 million by 2050.
Source: IDF Diabetes Atlas, 11th Edition, Africa Regional Factsheet (2025)
Hypertension prevalence across Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated at 20-40% of adults. In Nigeria, hypertension is responsible for 24.6% of all strokes and 13.2% of all heart attacks nationally.
Source: Global Heart journal / PMC11166022, modelling study on CVD burden attributable to hypertension in Nigeria (2024)
Africa recorded 1.15 million new cancer cases and over 754,000 deaths in 2022. Nigeria alone saw 124,815 new cases, breast cancer leads among women (38.7%), prostate cancer among men (29.8%).
Source: GLOBOCAN 2022, via JCO Global Oncology, "Cancer in Africa 2022"
Nigeria has an estimated 2 million+ people living with HIV, among the largest burdens in Africa. National adult prevalence is estimated between 1.4% (NAIIS 2018) and 2.1% in more recent modelling.
Source: NAIIS 2018; Bayesian predictive modelling study, PMC10393599 (2023)
An estimated 1 in 5 Nigerians, roughly 40 million people, live with a mental health condition. 85-90% receive no professional treatment. Nigeria has about 200 psychiatrists for a population of 170+ million.
Source: WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP); Nigeria mental health policy scoping review, PMC13150772
Studies across Nigerian cities find 17-37% of adults at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea, rising to 48.8% among commercial drivers. Full epidemiological data across Sub-Saharan Africa remains scarce.
Source: Nigerian Medical Journal; multiple PMC studies (Abuja, Kwara State), 2022-2025
Chronic musculoskeletal disorders account for up to 46% of orthopaedic outpatient visits in Nigeria, with chronic low back pain the leading complaint at nearly 65% of those cases.
Source: Nigerian tertiary hospital orthopaedic outpatient studies, PubMed 34051720 and related
Sickle cell disease affects up to 1-2% of some African populations, common enough to be a major public health issue even though it is classified "rare" elsewhere, while diagnostic and treatment infrastructure across the continent remains critically underdeveloped.
Source: PMC8784510, "Treating Rare Diseases in Africa"; PMC9201791, H3Africa Rare Diseases Working Group
More than 90 million Africans live with hepatitis B or C, 26% of the global burden. In Nigeria, hepatitis B prevalence is estimated at 5.4-9.5%, over 14 million people living with the virus.
Source: WHO AFRO, "91 million Africans infected with Hepatitis B or C"; BMC Infectious Diseases meta-analysis (2021)
Sub-Saharan Africa has among the highest infertility rates in the world. In Nigeria, 10-30% of couples are affected, with male infertility a contributing factor in over half of documented cases.
Source: WHO, 2023 Global Infertility Prevalence report; Sub-Saharan Africa systematic review, PMC12625511
Internal programme data, not third-party research, measured across our patient base to date.
Patients Supported, by Programme
Every figure above is sourced from a public health body or peer-reviewed publication.
If you are a donor, investor, or institutional partner evaluating chronic care infrastructure in Africa, we'd welcome the conversation.