sahr2001 - Health Systems Trust

Health and
Related Indicators
17
Candy Day i and Andy Gray ii
i
Health Systems Trust
ii
Dept of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology
University of Natal
Introduction
The objective of this section of the Health Review is to present the best
available data on a wide range of health and related indicators. Where possible
data from multiple years are presented. However, caution should be used
when attempting comparisons across time and especially between different
sources. Not all sources are comparable. However, particular attention has
been paid to detailed listings of the definitions used and the sources for each
piece of data presented in this section.
Data quality varies considerably between sources. Where possible, the
necessary cautions about poor or unreliable data have been included.
Notwithstanding such concerns, the range and depth of data available is
improving year by year.
Where possible the means to access the raw and complete data electronically
has been identified. It should however be noted that specific Universal
Resource Locators (URLs) are not always available for the exact document
sought. In such cases, the location of the issuing authority’s web site has
been provided (e.g. Statistics SA can be accessed at http://www.statssa.gov.za).
Increasingly, though, in-depth data is not made available for free.
Where previous Health Reviews tried to represent the selected indicators
broken down by provincial and population groups, future editions will try
to include district level data as far as possible.
For demographic data, the most important sources used this year were the
Statistics SA products, such as the 1996 Census, the mid-year population
estimates and the October Household Surveys. A census was completed in
late 2001, but results will take some time to emerge. The latest October
Household Survey (OHS) was completed in 1999. Increasingly, competing
models of the impact of AIDS on the South African population post-1996
are being issued. Extensive use was made of the reports issued by the Actuarial
Society of South Africa, Metropolitan Life and the Institute for Futures
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