a profile of non-natural deaths in gauteng - medical research council
TRANSCRIPT
Presented by Hilton Donson
SAFETY & PEACE PROMOTION
RESEARCH UNIT
National Injury Mortality Surveillance System
(NIMSS)
November 2010
A profile of non-natural death in Gauteng, 2009
Staff and pathologists at participating MLLs and Forensic Medicine departments.
National and Provincial Departments of Health
State Forensic Pathology Services
Members of the NIMSS team
Acknowledgements
LEADING GLOBAL CAUSES OF DEATH, 2004 AND 2030 COMPARED
Injuries are the 2nd leading cause of death and DALYs lost in South Africa
The overall injury death rate of 157.8 per 100 000 population is nearly twice the global average
Substantial burden of preventable mortality, physical and emotional disability, impacts on social and economic development, co-morbidity(HIV/AIDS, abuse of alcohol and illicit substances)
Mortality in South Africa
Females
Males
Mortality profile for Gauteng
Source: South African Burden of Disease Study 2000
Top 20 leading cause of premature mortality burden Gauteng 2000
Leading causes of mortality among children
Findings from death notification, 2007
0
1 –
4
5 –
9
10 –
14
15 –
19
20 –
24
25 –
29
30 –
34
35 –
39
40 –
44
45 –
49
50 –
54
55 –
59
60 –
64
65 –
69
70 –
74
75 –
79
80 –
84
85+
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
Natural deaths Non-natural deaths
Statistics South Africa, 2009. Mortality and causes of death in South Africa, 2007: Findings from death notification, Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. Available at: www.statssa.gov.za.
44%
31%
17%
The National Injury Mortality Surveillance System (NIMSS)
HistoryEstablished in 1999Includes all deaths due to external causesBased on information from existing medico-
legal investigative proceduresAttempts to attempts to address gaps in
information from existing systems, i.e. death notification and SAPS
Goals of the NIMSS Ongoing and systematic information about the incidence,
causes and consequences of all non-natural deaths at all levels
Identification of new injury trends and emerging problem areas
Priorities for injury and violence prevention action Evaluate direct and indirect violence and injury prevention
and control measures Monitor seasonal and longitudinal changes in the non-
natural death profile
Utility of the NIMSS
Medico-legal laboratory
management tool
Capacity Development
Media/public/ stakeholder
dissemination
Collaborative Research
Interventions with partners Policy
Nine participating medico legal
laboratories (MLLs) in Gauteng
Descriptive findings in this report are the
result of an automated report generating process – caution
relatively few cases of date and time of injury
were available, date and time of death have been reported instead
While death would have occurred at the time of injury for a
majority of cases, some victims will have died hours or days after the
injury itself
Participating Facilities and Data Representivity
City MLL TotalBronkhorstspruit Bronkhorstspruit 317
Ekurhuleni Springs 1235
Heidelberg Heidelberg 291
Johannesburg Diepkloof 1738
Ekurhuleni Germiston 2678
Johannesburg Johannesburg 2531
Johannesburg Roodepoort 1409
Johannesburg Sebokeng 1376
Tshwane Ga-rankuwa 1155
Total 12 730
Apparent manner of death, Gauteng 2009(N=11329)
Violence, 3671, 32%
Suicide, 1278, 11%
Undetermined; 2195; 19%
Other Unintentional, 937, 8%
Transport, 3248, 29%
Violence (n=3652) Suicide (n=1276) Transport (n=3237) Other Unintentional (n=932)
Undetermined (n=1950)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Female, \13.0%
Female, 15.8%
Female, 19.5%
Female, 26.7%
Female, 29.1%
Male, 87.0%Male, 84.2%
Male, 80.5%
Male, 73.3%Male, 70.9%
Apparent manner of death
Per
cen
tage
of
case
sApparent manner of death by sex
(N=11047)
0-4
5-9
10-1
4
15-1
9
20-2
4
25-2
9
30-3
4
35-3
9
40-4
4
45-4
9
50-5
4
55-5
9
60-6
4
65-6
9
70-7
4
75-5
9
80-8
485
+0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70% Violence Suicide Transport Unintentional Undetermined
Age groups
Perc
en
tag
e o
f cases
Apparent manner of death by age (n=10817)
Top 10 scenes of injury, Gauteng 2009n=8292
Farm
Lake/river/dam
Industrial area
Medical service area
Railway
Open land
Informal settlements
Residential Institute
Private homes
Roads
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Violence Suicide Transport Other unintentional Undetermined
Number of deaths
Sce
ne
of in
jury
Apparent manner of death by time of death(n=11025)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 230
50
100
150
200
250Violence Suicide Transport Other Unintentional Undetermined
Time of death
Nu
mb
er o
f d
eath
s
Blood Alcohol Levels (n= 2519)
Zero55.7%
0-4mg/100ml4.4%
5-14mg/100ml13.4%
15-24mg/100ml16.3%
25+mg/100ml10.2%
Day of death, Gauteng 2009 (n=11223)
Monthly variation, Gauteng 2009 (n=11223)
Top 10 external causes of injury, Gauteng 2009 (n = 8660)
Passenger
MVA unspecified
Driver
Burns
Poisoning
Hanging
Blunt force
Sharp force
Pedestrian
Firearm
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
Number of deaths
Ext
ern
al
cxa
use
of
inju
ry
Blood alcohol findings by apparent manner of death
Apparent mannerBAC's done
n(%)BAC positive
n(%)Mean BAC
Std. Dev.
Violence (3671) 953 (26.0) 463 (48.6) 0.16 0.09
Suicide (1278) 394 (30.8) 134 (34.1) 0.16 0.11
Transport (3248) 833 (25.7) 407 (48.9) 0.19 0.1
Other unintentional injury (937)
95 (10.1) 29 (30.5) 0.16 0.08
Undetermined (2195) 244 (11.1) 84 (34.4) 0.15 0.11
Total 2519 1117 0.16 0.1
Blood alcohol findings by transport user
Transport user BAC's done n(%)
BAC positive n(%)
Mean BAC Std. Dev.
Driver (542) 178 (32.8) 103 (57.9) 0.17 0.09
Passenger (522) 148 (28.4) 64 (43.2) 0.17 0.09
Pedestrian (1333) 290 (21.8) 153 (52.8) 0.23 0.11
Railway case (162) 38 (23.5) 10 (26.3) 0.12 0.08
Cyclist (151) 46 (30.5) 15 (32.6) 0.15 0.07
Unspecified (533) 132 (24.8) 62 (47.0) 0.16 0.09
Aviation (5) 1(20.0%) 0 0 0
Total 833 407 0.2 0.11
Year 2008 2009
Population# 7627922 7659017
Total deaths
Rate/ 100 000 pop.
Total deathsRate/ 100000
pop.
Violence 4223 51.7 3671 45.1- firearm 1700 20.6 1374 16.4- sharp force 1239 15.1 1074 13.1- blunt force 1068 13.3 971 12.4Suicide 1350 17.4 1278 16.5- firearm 240 3.3 219 3.0- hanging 738 9.2 676 8.5- poisoning 233 3.0 249 3.1Transport 3578 46.3 3248 41.6- road traffic 3405 44.2 3081 39.5- pedestrian 1441 18.9 1333 17.2- driver 592 7.5 542 6.8- passenger 649 8.5 522 6.6- railway 147 1.9 162 2.1Unintentional 1222 16.2 937 12.6- burns 338 4.2 336 4.4- drowning 207 2.6 134 1.7- falls 112 1.7 94 1.5ALL INJURIES 11565 147.1 11329 144.4
Age-adjusted mortality rates for Gauteng
Mpumalanga South Africa
Violence 33.2 64.8
- firearm 9.6
- sharp object 10.7
Suicide 17.1 14
- firearm 2.1
- hanging 11.6
ALL INJURIES 147.9 157.8
Mpumalanga South Africa
Transport 68.4
- road traffic 68.1 39.7
driver 19.4
pedestrian 20.9
passenger 21.3Other Unintentional
12.3
- burns 2.6
- drowning 3.0
ALL INJURIES 147.9 157.8
The way forwardA permanent, nationwide system that registers all
non-natural deaths in South AfricaAutomated NIMSS
InnovativeFunded by UNISAMpumalanga & GautengProject concludes in 2011
Thank You
Website: MRC-UNISA Crime, Violence and Injury Lead
Programme/Safety and Peace Promotion Research Unit (SAPPRU)
http://www.mrc.ac.za/crime/nimms.htm
Staff and pathologists at participating MLLs
and Forensic Medicine departments.
National and Provincial Departments of Health
State Forensic Pathology Services
Members of the NIMSS team
Acknowledgements