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40 Fighting the Diseases of Poverty
Figure 2 Number of public and private hospital beds in
South Africa
2004
120,000
100,000
105,665
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
26,593
0
Public
Private
are private, there are indications that close to half the population
may use private health services. This can be shown by building a
picture of the South African health market, bearing in mind that
accurate numbers are not available and wide variations are found in
population and poverty statistics.
According to official figures, South Africa had a population of
44.8 million people in October 2001 (Statistics South Africa, 2003).
Poverty estimates range from 40 per cent (Government Communication
& Information System 2002) to as high as 60 per cent (Department
of Provincial & Local Government, 2001) of the population.
Based on a poverty datum line of R800 per month for a household,
52 per cent of households lived in poverty in 1996 (Health Systems
Trust, 2003). It would thus be safe to conclude that at least half the
population, or 22.4 million people in 2001, could not afford comprehensive
formal health care.
Research shows that in 1999 about 20 per cent of the population