Burden of Digestive Diseases in Ethiopia

Digestive diseases, affecting the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, cause a variety of health problems. These widespread conditions significantly impact global health, raising illness rates, deaths, and healthcare costs.
The burden of digestive diseases around the world has grown significantly since 1990. In 2019 alone, an estimated 443.53 million new cases of digestive diseases were diagnosed, resulting in 2.56 million deaths and 88.99 million disability-adjusted life years lost. These numbers represent increases of 74.44%, 37.85%, and 23.46%, respectively, compared to 1990 and digestive diseases were the 13th leading cause of Disability-adjusted life years lost globally in 2019.
Despite a global decline in Hepatitis B deaths, sub-Saharan Africa, including Ethiopia, still experiences a high burden of digestive diseases, particularly chronic liver disease caused by factors like alcohol consumption, chat chewing, and Hepatitis B and C viruses.
There’s a lack of published Ethiopian studies on the burden of these illnesses, and no comprehensive regional estimates exist. To address this gap, this study utilizes 2021 GBD data to quantify the leading burden of digestive diseases in Ethiopia.