Why Men Die Earlier Than Women: An African Perspective

By:  Jennifer Amarachi Maduwuba and Adebowale Bello. B.Tech Microbiology, Freelance Health Writers. Medically reviewed by the DLHA Team. 

A middle-aged African man seated in the fields with a hoe in his hands. Image Credit: Freepik

Kwame was only 42 when he died. For weeks he had complained of chest pain but he brushed it off as “just stress.” He still opened his general goods shop each morning, and carried the weight of everyone’s needs (wife, children, and siblings) on his back. When he finally collapsed behind his counter, it was too late. He died before he could get any professional help.

Kwame's story is not unique. African men are dying abruptly in their prime either at work, on the road or in their sleep. On an average, African men die five to seven years earlier than women and you don’t have to look too far because these are our fathers, brothers, uncles and friends who die suddenly and leave behind families who never saw it coming.

The painful truth is that many of these deaths didn’t have to happen but they do again and again because of how African societies raise men, what is expected of them, and how little they pay attention to their health as at when due.

Interestingly, a study that looked into why men die earlier than women found that most men die between ages 20 and 49, which are the crucial years of building their families, careers and communities at large. These are also years in which they are at most risk of various causes of death.

So, why do men die early? Frankly, the answer isn't simple. It's a combination of culture, biology, economics, lifestyle and healthcare systems. In this blog, we will take a look at these factors

Too many African men are dying young due to poor health seeking behaviours, and the culture of projecting strength. It’s time for African men to embrace change and step out more to seek professional medical help rather than suffer in silence out of cultural expectations.

• Culture and the Heavy Price of “Being a Man” in Africa

From the time an African boy begins to walk, he starts hearing the same messages: “Be strong”, “Don’t cry”, “A real man provides” and by the time he becomes an adult, those words have shaped him completely. His worth is measured by how much he earns, how much he can endure and how silent he remains even when hurting emotionally. It’s no wonder so many men live like they’re in a race by chasing bills and carrying family pressure while hiding their pain. They do not slow down because they can’t afford to and when their body finally gives up, everyone is shocked.

Tunde, a 38-year-old engineer in Lagos, said it well: “If I tell people I’m struggling, they’ll say I’m weak. So I just keep going.”

The pressure to provide pushes men into dangerous work. They become miners breathing toxic dust, construction workers on rickety scaffolding, truck drivers falling asleep at the wheel after 18-hour shifts. They take these risks not because they're reckless but because their families need to eat and when the economy collapses, when jobs vanish, when a man cannot fulfill the role society expects of him, the stress becomes a silent killer manifesting as hypertension, ulcers, stroke or heart attacks which have built up over the years.

• How Biology Plays A Role

Yes, biology plays a role. Women have oestrogen and this hormone acts like a shield for the heart by reducing inflammation and relaxing blood vessels thereby protecting against cardiovascular disease. Little wonder there are fewer heart attacks among young women. On the other hand, testosterone, the hormone that makes men, well, men, comes with trade-offs. It builds muscle and drive but research suggests it may also fuel risk-taking behavior as higher testosterone has been linked to aggression and impulsivity which are traits that might have helped our ancestors compete for resources in ancient times but today translate into dangerous driving, violence or substance abuse.

However, this doesn’t mean that because you’re a man and have the testosterone hormone, that you will certainly die early. The male-female longevity gap varies dramatically across countries and cultures and in some Scandinavian nations like Norway and Sweden that have excellent healthcare, the gap is narrowing while in parts of Africa, it's widening hence signifying that there are still several other underlying factors.

• Economics and the Loneliness Epidemic of Urban Life

African cities are full of men who are completely alone. They've migrated from villages to the cities for work, leaving behind everyone who knew them. They live in cramped rooms, send money home and have no one to talk to when the weight becomes unbearable.

Society taught them to carry pain like a badge of honor, so when depression comes, it doesn’t look like tears or sadness, instead it looks like anger, like alcohol or like a man who works himself to exhaustion so he doesn't have to feel anything at all.

You may wonder why these African men don't seek help or visit a mental health professional before they burn out, but in most African communities, mental healthcare services are scarcely available. There are maternal health, child health, and reproductive health services—which are all critical and necessary—but few emotional services for men. Unsurprisingly, suicide rates among young African men are rising and when a man takes his own life, his community is often shocked. "But he seemed fine," they say. Of course he did. He was trained to look and act fine.

• Lifestyle and the Violence Men Don’t Survive

African men are known to engage in poor lifestyles that impact health negatively like cigarette smoking, alcohol and substance use, consumption of junk food, etc., than women. These lifestyles contribute to a higher occurrence of hypertension, strokes, diabetes and other cardiovascular diseases in men than women. These are all major silent causes of death and disability and are contributory to why men die more and earlier than women. 

Also, Africa’s roads are among the deadliest in the world and young men make up most of the victims. Motor vehicular accidents, reckless driving, driving under influence, etc., all take lives every single day. Then there’s interpersonal violence through street fights, armed robbery, disputes over lands or women, political clashes and in all these scenarios men are both the victims and the perpetrators.

In Africa's numerous conflict zones, young men are recruited as soldiers and are casualties of wars they didn't start. Even in peacetime, unemployment and desperation push young men toward crime, which leads to prison, injury, loss of body parts or death. The question isn't just why are men violent but why do we accept violence as a normal part of young men's lives?

• The Healthcare Systems Gap No One Talks About

Speaking of healthcare, many men rarely access healthcare services for preventive and promotive health checks. Women on the other hand, have regular touchpoints ranging from antenatal visits and immunization clinics, to family planning. Men visit hospitals only when they are already very sick and probably dying. Public health campaigns rarely target men, so conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and prostate cancer—one of the most common cancers in African men—are often detected late.

Eventually, when men finally do seek help, they face healthcare workers who more than likely sustain the same toxic masculinity, in essence asking directly or indirectly "Why are you here for something so small?” “Aren’t you a man?" That single sentence can make a man stay away forever, leading to more preventable deaths from diseases that could easily be managed—hypertension, diabetes, HIV, malaria— simply because they delay seeking help until it’s too late.

What are the Real Killers of African Men?

If we strip it down to facts, the leading causes of death among African men aged 20–49 are:

1. HIV/AIDS – men are less likely to get tested or stay on treatment.
2. Road accidents – often from fatigue, poor road and unsafe driving.
3. Tuberculosis – worsened by delayed diagnosis.
4. Heart disease and stroke – often the first symptom is death.
5. Violence and suicide.
6. Untreated infections – malaria, typhoid or pneumonia

Almost all of these are preventable or treatable yet men die, not because the medicine doesn’t work but because they don't show up for care in time.

How Can the Excessive Death of African Men be Reduced? 

1. Behavioural change through education and awareness raising

• Health literacy campaigns targeted at men encourages them to adopt preventive health practices like regular checkups, blood pressure monitoring and early disease screening
• School-based programs need to teach boys about emotional health and preventive care which can help them in adulthood
• Health messages delivered by religious and traditional leaders achieve significantly higher male engagement compared to government messaging alone because these trusted figures provide cultural proclamations for men to prioritize their health.
• Radio, SMS and social media campaigns can reduce stigma around men seeking mental health support. When musicians, athletes or actors openly talk about therapy, health checkups or burnout, they motivate other men to do the same.

2. Make Healthcare Accessible and Male-Friendly

If men won’t go to the clinic, bring the clinic to them.

• Mobile health clinics that go to workplaces such as construction sites, markets and transport hubs.
• Evening and weekend hours so men don't have to choose between healthcare and their jobs.
• Male-friendly nurses and doctors should be trained to listen, not lecture.
• Free or subsidized screenings for blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and prostate health.

When health feels accessible and judgment-free, men will show up.

3. Create Safe Spaces for Men

Men need spaces where they can be honest.

• Support groups, both physical and online, where men talk freely
• Community sports or walking groups that combine fitness with conversation.
• Barbershops and workplaces can double as safe spaces for health education and emotional check-ins.

In South Africa, “Men’s Sheds” are doing just that— giving men a place to gather, talk and heal. Kenya is training barbers to recognise signs of distress in clients. These small ideas save lives.

4. Address the Economic Roots

It's hard to talk about mental or physical health when survival is on the line, hence governments and employers must take responsibility too.

• Enforce workplace safety laws
• Create jobs with employer funded healthcare access
• Offer insurance and social protection so men aren’t defined by income alone.

A society that values men only for what they provide will keep losing them too soon.

The Path Forward

African men are not disposable and their lives matter, not just as providers or protectors but as fathers, sons, brothers, friends, human beings who deserve to grow old. Closing the longevity gap won't happen overnight because it will take courage—from men speaking up, families listening and governments acting.

But it begins with something simple: a decision.

• A man deciding to get checked.
• A friend deciding to ask another how he’s really doing.
• A wife encouraging her husband to rest. seek regular health check

When men live longer, healthier lives, everyone benefits. Families stay intact. Children keep their fathers. Communities retain their knowledge and leadership and men themselves finally get to experience life beyond mere survival—they get to actually live.

The truth is, being a man shouldn’t mean dying young. It should mean living long enough to enjoy the life you’ve worked so hard to build.

So to every man reading this:

Go for that checkup.
Take that rest.
Open up to someone you trust.
Real strength isn’t dying for your family, it’s living for them.

Resources: 

1. Zhao E, Crimmins EM. Mortality and morbidity in aging men: Biology, Lifestyle and Environment. Rev Endocr Metab Disord 2022;23:1285–304. Available from here.

2. Bartkowiak-Wieczorek, J, Jaros, A, Gajdzi?ska, A, Wojty?a-Buciora, P, Szyma?ski, I, Szymaniak, J, Janusz, W, Walczak, I, Jonaszka, G, & Bienert, A. (2024). The Dual Faces of Oestrogen: The Impact of Exogenous Oestrogen on the Physiological and Pathophysiological Functions of Tissues and Organs. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 25(15), 8167. Available from here 

3. Chisumpa VH, Odimegwu CO. Decomposition of age- and cause-specific adult mortality contributions to the gender gap in life expectancy from census and survey data in Zambia. SSM - Population Health 2018;5:218–26. Available from here. 

4. Stice JP, Lee JS, Pechenino AS, Knowlton AA. Estrogen, Aging and the Cardiovascular System. Future Cardiol 2009;5:93–103. Available from here.

5. Xiang D, Liu Y, Zhou S, Zhou E, Wang Y. Protective Effects of Estrogen on Cardiovascular Disease Mediated by Oxidative Stress. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity 2021;2021:5523516. Available from here 

6. Batrinos ML. Testosterone and aggressive behavior in men. Int J Endocrinol Metab 2012;10:563–8. Available from here.

7. Guerrini B, Clarke JJ, Smith BJ, McVeigh JA, Holmes K, Wild J, Talbot R, Ashley J, McEvoy PM. The Impacts of Engagement in Men's Sheds on Incidental Physical Activity and Wellbeing Outcomes. Health Promot J Austr. 2025 Jan;36(1):e958. Available from here.

8. Yabunga PM, Koyiet PN, Musimbi H, Simiyu K, Chemorei E, Koskei P, Evangelidou S, Nangukhula M. Effectiveness of barber-facilitated "Doing What Matters in Times of Stress" intervention among urban literate youths in Western Kenya: A cluster randomised trial. PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025 Jun 18;5(6):e0004712. Available from here

Related:

Unexpected, Sudden Natural Death in Young African Adults: Causes

Why African men need regular health checks and screenings

Male Infertility in Nigeria: Ethnocultural and Religious Considerations

Prostate Cancer in African Men: Symptoms, Causes and Risk Factors

Published: October 22, 2025

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