Fig. 2: Global population demographics and health-care status underscore important risk factors for severe COVID-19 disease.

Population demographics and prevalence of known co-morbidities for each of the six World Health Organization regions. Although Africa reports a lower average age compared with other regions, the burden of infectious disease is disproportionately high. Both HIV and tuberculosis are associated with an increase in coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) disease severity, and their prevalence in Africa will increase the risk of fatal infection for a large number of people. There is also a large proportion of individuals in Africa with raised blood pressure, which is a known risk factor for severe disease. Other known co-morbidities, including raised cholesterol, raised glucose and obesity, are less prevalent in Africa compared with the other reported regions. Raised blood pressure (systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm/Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg), raised fasting blood glucose levels (≥7 mmol/l or taking medication), raised total cholesterol levels (≥5 mmol/l) and body mass index (BMI) >25 are reflected as age-standardized estimates. All data shown reflect the latest available data from the World Health Data Platform (Global Health Observatory). The number of people living with HIV-1/AIDS (in millions) reflects the population of individuals who were infected in 2018, tuberculosis cases shown reflect the number of incident cases in 2018 and malaria cases reflect the estimated number of cases in 2017.