We are now eight billion people; let's build a better world for us all

People eat street food as shoppers crowd a market in New Delhi, India as the world's population hit 8 billion people. [AP Photo]

November 15, 2022, was a momentous day in our history. The world population hit the eight billion mark, having grown by one billion people since 2010. It is projected to surpass nine billion by 2037. This historical moment calls for celebration because this unprecedented growth is due to an increase in human life expectancy; people living healthier and longer due to improvements and advancements in public health, vaccines, nutrition, standards of living and poverty reduction.

Kenya, with an estimated 50 million people, has grown steadily from a population of about eight million in 1963. There is an improvement in the average life expectancy from 48 years to 67 years. As of 1963, one in every seven children died before their fifth birthday but today, we have tremendously reduced child and maternal mortality and many babies live long. This progress realised over the past 59 years, makes Kenya a nation on the path to prosperity where no child dies young and no woman dies while giving birth.