Life expectancy in Africa increased by over nine years between 2000 and 2015, according to new figures from the World Health Organization (WHO).

“The increase was greatest in the African Region of WHO where life expectancy increased by 9.4 years to 60 years, driven mainly by improvements in child survival, progress in malaria control and expanded access to antiretrovirals for treatment of HIV,” the new WHO report released on Thursday said.

According to the WHO, global average life expectancy for children born in 2015 was 71.4 years while newborns in 22 others – all of them in sub-Saharan Africa – have life expectancy of less than 60 years.

On the global situation the WHO report said: “Life expectancy increased by five years between 2000 and 2015, the fastest increase since the 1960s.”

An Anadolu Agency report quoting highlights of the WHO report said: “Women in Japan, with an average of 86.8 years, can expect to live the longest. Switzerland has the longest average survival for men, at 81.3 years, while people in Sierra Leone have the world’s lowest life expectancy for both sexes: 50.8 years for women and 49.3 years for men.

“According to the report, every year 303,000 women die due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth, almost six million children die before their fifth birthday and more than 10 million people die before the age of 70 due to cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

“Out of the 475,000 people murdered every year, 80 percent are men. Around 800,000 people take their own lives per annum.”