Nigeria, with a Median population age of approximately 17 years, has one of the youngest populations in the world.
A significant number of Nigeria’s young are Millennials – people born between the years 1981 to 1996.
Many people think that being a millennial is fun and exciting. It is the generation that saw and even made many of the greatest discoveries and technological advancements that changed how people live around the world.
In Nigeria, millennials like other generations, have to catch up with advancements as seen in developed climes. Millennials are believed to be generally restless until they hit their goals. This is the true mark of a millennial.
Millennials are the largest, most educated, and most connected generation the world has ever seen,” a scathing new report states.
But, this generation is facing a life-threatening issue that deserves urgent attention. Although the report focuses on American Millennials, its findings are consistent with facts and figures being reported from hospital facilities across Nigeria.
The new report by the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) predicts that millennials might die younger than other generations due to growing health problems and increasing healthcare costs.
BCBS is a federation of organizations and companies that provide health insurance to more than 100 million people in the U.S. Its latest report looked into the current millennial health patterns.
Together with analysts from Moody’s Analytics, BCBS collected data from its members, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and previous health studies. The team found “several interesting and concerning findings” about millennials, Vice reported Thursday.
Millennials are at risk of having more diseases, facing financial challenges and early death compared to the previous generation, Gen X. BCBS said over the next 10 years, millennials may see a 40 percent increase in mortality and pay three times higher for healthcare.
Analysts said the health issues can be attributed to rapidly increasing “behavioral health” problems among millennials. The generation has been experiencing high rates of depression, anxiety, ADHD and substance abuse.
Between 2014 and 2017, the number of diagnosed depression and hyperactivity increased by 30 percent among millennials. To date, people, ages 30 and 39 years, have a lower risk of dying from heart disease and cancer, which have been affecting the Gen Xers.
However, millennials are more likely to die from preventable situations, like an accidental overdose, suicide, and homicide. The BCBS report states both the effects of health conditions and the cost of treatment would be a major problem for the young generation.
For Nigerian Millennials, these findings are more troubling because of the different economic and social factors in the US. The peculiarity of operating in a harsh economy, with poor health-seeking behavior, no health insurance cover for common ailments and diseases.
There are really non-existent support structures that would cushion the predictions of the report.
With no financial stamina and poor health care support system-structures, Nigerian Millennials would find it almost impossible to thrive optimally, leaving the weak to be removed (by disease and/or death), even before they have the opportunity to try.
