HERE is a fact – women in Zambia are still likely to live considerably longer than men. The life expectancy for men in Zambia stands at 62 percent while for women it is at 68, which is about 10 years less than the global average.
But there is a double-edged case for Zambian women in terms of fertility – their rate is at 4.4 percent compared to the world’s average of 2.4 percent.
“In other words, in Zambia a woman, on average, will have those 4.4 children in her lifetime, whereas in America or Japan, the woman will only have 2.2,” obstetrician and gynaecologist Bellington Vwalika said following the launch of the State of the World Population 2022 and commemoration of the 2022 World Population Day yesterday.
“The issue there is that this 4.4, some people quote a figure higher than that, it is one of the highest in the world