Pneumonia has once again been ranked as the leading cause of death among men in Kenya, according to the latest Kenya Vital Statistics Report released on Wednesday. Despite a slight decline in numbers from the previous year, pneumonia accounted for 5,244 male deaths in 2024, down from 5,404 in 2023.
The report, which compiles data on births, deaths, marriages, and adoptions, highlights pneumonia, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases as the top causes of registered deaths in the country’s health facilities. In total, pneumonia claimed 9,682 lives across both genders, followed by cancer at 8,954 deaths and cardiovascular diseases with 7,478.
Cancer, which ranked as the leading killer disease among women, saw a concerning rise in fatalities. In 2024, 4,498 women died of cancer, a notable increase from 3,940 in 2023. Among men, cancer deaths rose from 3,758 to 4,456 over the same period. Pneumonia was the second deadliest disease for women, with fatalities slightly decreasing from 4,562 in 2023 to 4,438 in 2024.
The report also identified hypertension (5,035), injuries (4,574), anaemia (4,572), kidney diseases (4,247), prematurity and birth asphyxia (4,223), diabetes (3,822), and heart disease (3,730) as major contributors to hospital deaths, rounding out the top ten causes.
Since 2021, pneumonia has remained the leading cause of death in health facilities, while cancer has shown a steady climb rising from the fifth position in 2021 to second place in 2023 and 2024.
Out of the 206,417 total registered deaths in 2024, 54.9 percent were certified by medical practitioners. The remaining 45.1 percent were community deaths, where sudden death, pneumonia, and cancer continued to dominate as the primary causes.
The report noted declines in facility deaths caused by asthma, malaria, tuberculosis, road accidents, and pneumonia. It emphasized the importance of vital statistics in shaping public health policies, resource allocation, and tracking demographic changes critical to Kenya’s socio-economic development.
