SAHR 2007 - Health Systems Trust

Health and Related Indicators 15
Figure 22: Death rates by age per 100 000 from transport, 2001 and 2003
Health Status – Injuries
35
30
Deaths per 100 000
25
20
15
10
5
0
15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64
Pedestrians 2001 Pedestrians 2003
Non-pedestrians 2001
Non-pedestrians 2003
Source:
StatsSA Adult mortality, based on Department of Transport data.
The unadjusted data from the StatsSA Cause of Death 2005
report showed the following:
➤ in KZN, NW, GP, MP and LP, the most common cause of
non-natural death was transport accidents;
➤ the highest percentages of non-natural deaths attributed
to assault were recorded in NC (20.4%), EC (16.7%),
WC (12.9%) and FS (11.5%);
➤ the lowest percentage of non-natural deaths attributed
to assault was in GP (3.7%), but this province showed
the highest increase from 2004 to 2005 (from 303
deaths in 2004 to 427 deaths in 2005, representing a
40.9% increase).
An in-depth analysis by Norman et al. provides an estimation
of the magnitude and characteristics of the injury burden in
SA within a global context [Bull World Health Organ 85(695-
702)]. Although it is based primarily on 2000 mortality data
and therefore doesn’t reflect recent trends or changes over
time, it does confirm the high injury rates for SA. Of the estimated
59 935 injury deaths in 2000, 46% were homicides,
26.7% road traffic injuries and 9.1% self-inflicted injuries. The
age-standardised homicide rate (64.8 per 100 000) places
SA among the most violent countries in the world, with the
highest rate of 184 per 100 000 in males aged 15-29 (nine
times the global rate). Road traffic age-specific mortality
rates were also high at 39.7 per 100 000, about double the
global rate (Table 37).
Non-fatal outcomes are also important, although difficult to
measure, since for each death there are several survivors
with permanent disabling sequelae. This study estimated
that intentional and unintentional injuries combined were
the second leading cause of all disability-adjusted life years
(DALYs) after HIV, accounting for 14.3% of all DALYs.
Table 37: Estimated injury mortality rates per 100 000
population (all ages, age-standardised) for
2000
Homicide / interpersonal
violence
Suicide / self-inflicted
violence
Males Females Persons
SA Global SA Global SA
113.4 13.9 21.0 4.2 64.8
23.3 18.6 6.1 10.6 14.0
Road traffic injury 59.4 32.1 22.6 11.1 39.7
Source:
Bull World Health Organ 85(695-702), based primarily on data
from the NIMSS.
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