What kills South Africans

There was a slight decline in the number of deaths in South Africa between 2006 and 2007 with tuberculosis the leading cause of death, Statistics SA said in a survey released on Monday.

The decline in mortality was observed at all ages below 55 years and for both males and females, the Pretoria-based agency said. "The greatest decline was observed in age groups one to four and 15 to 34, as well as among females.

"The age pattern at death has remained more or less the same between 2003 and 2007, with more deaths observed at ages 30 to 34," Statistics SA said.

More male deaths
Overall, there were slightly more male than female deaths.

The majority of reported deaths were among the black African population group and most deaths occurred in health facilities, although a substantial number still occurred at home, the agency said.

When considering deaths that occurred in various provinces, the highest mortality rate was observed in Free State and the lowest in Western Cape.

Information on causes of death indicated that the majority of deaths were linked to natural causes, and specifically, most deaths were linked to certain infectious and parasitic diseases. "Tuberculosis continues to be the leading cause of death in the country," Statistics SA said.

HIV ninth biggest killers
"The other most common causes of death in 2007 were influenza and pneumonia, intestinal infectious diseases, other forms of heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases. "Human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] disease was the ninth leading cause of death," Statistics SA said.

Differences of causes of death by age indicated that intestinal infectious diseases were the leading causes of death for those aged younger than 15 years; tuberculosis leading among those aged 15-64; and cerebrovascular diseases among those aged 65 years and older.

For the provinces, it was observed that tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in all provinces, except Free State and Limpopo, where influenza and pneumonia dominated.

District municipalities
For the first time, Statistics SA provided mortality data and causes of death for district municipalities. "Findings in this regard indicate that tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in many district municipalities," Statistics SA said. "Other diseases that appeared as leading were influenza and pneumonia; intestinal infectious diseases; other diseases of the respiratory system; ischaemic heart diseases; and HIV disease."

Overall, males, persons aged 15 to 19 years and those who died in Western Cape and Gauteng had the highest percentage of deaths due to non-natural causes.

Besides deaths reported as linked to other external causes of injuries and to events of undetermined intent, most deaths were associated with transport accidents and assault, Statistics SA said. "On the one hand, a higher proportion of male deaths were due to assault as compared to female deaths, but on the other hand, a higher proportion of female deaths were due to transport accidents as compared to male deaths."

Most road deaths in Limpopo
Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape had the highest percentages of deaths due to assault while Limpopo had the highest percentage of deaths due to transport accidents.

The statistical release presents information on mortality and causes of death in South Africa, based on all death notification forms received from the department of home affairs for deaths that occurred in 2007.

Statistics SA processed a total of 601,133 deaths that occurred in 2007 during the 2008/09 processing phase. This figure was 1.8% lower than the updated 2006 deaths (612,462) processed. - (Sapa, November 2009)