Most South African deaths between 1997 and 2001 resulted from unnatural causes such as injuries, suicides, car accidents and drowning, Statistics South Africa said in Pretoria on Thursday.
Next in line was what it described as ill-defined causes: tuberculosis, HIV/Aids and influenza and pneumonia.
Releasing the report on a study on the topic, it noted that there had been a change in mortality patterns over the period concerned.
”The proportions of deaths due to unnatural courses has declined during this period while the proportion due to HIV, tuberculoses and influenza and pneumonia has increased.”
Stats SA concluded among others in its study that ”where as males experienced the highest mortality attributable to unspecified unnatural causes in the age group 15 to 39, female South Africans in the same age category died primarily as a result of HIV infections.”
The study was commissioned after the Medical Research Council released a report last year — conducted with Stats South Africa — which showed that 40% of deaths of those aged between 15 and 49 in 2000 were due to Aids.
Stats SA later repudiated this finding and questioned the report. Cabinet then asked Stats SA to do its own study.
In a statement issued at the briefing, the Department of Health said the change in patterns of mortality confirmed the need to put the country’s anti-aids strategy into effect. – Sapa