SAHR 2007 - Health Systems Trust

Health and Related Indicators 15
The report states baldly that all cause mortality of those
aged 15-64 “increased substantially” from 1997 to 2004, for
both sexes. Expressed as the age-standardised death rate,
the value for males increased 1.8 times over that period,
while the value for females increased 2.4 times. This was even
more evident in particular age groups, where, for example,
death rates for females aged 20-39 more than tripled and
Health Status – Mortality
those for males aged 30-44 more than doubled. The bulk
of that increase is attributed to communicable diseases. The
relative contribution of unnatural, communicable and noncommunicable
diseases over time is shown in Figure 2, for
males and females. Figure 3 clearly illustrates the considerable
increase in deaths due to communicable diseases, as
well as the increased death rates in younger women.
Figure 2:
Contribution of the three Global Burden of Disease categories to the age-standardised death rate per
100 000, age 15-64, 1997-2004
Male
1 800
1 600
1 400
Female
Deaths per 100 000
1 200
1 000
800
600
400
200
0
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Communicable and related Non-communicable Unnatural causes
Source:
StatsSA Adult mortality.
Figure 3: Death rates by age and sex per 100 000 from communicable and related diseases, 1997 and 2004
1 600
1 400
Deaths per 100 000
1 200
1 000
800
600
400
200
0
15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64
Male 1997 Male 2004 Female 1997
Female 2004
Source:
StatsSA Adult mortality.
229