- Almost one in three deaths in South Africa are caused
by Aids making it the leading killer, according to research.
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- In two provinces, the figure is as high as 40%, says
an unreleased report by South Africa's Medical Research Council.
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- Research was based on the study of death statistics for
the year 2000.
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- A researcher admitted that the report relied partly on
estimations, since Aids-related deaths are not always identified on death
certificates.
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- South African media have obtained the document, but the
government had declined to comment before the report is released officially.
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- "HIV/Aids is the leading cause of death and premature
mortality for all provinces," the document states.
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- "The high death rates due to HIV/Aids highlight
the urgency to accelerate the implementation of the comprehensive plan
for the treatment and prevention of HIV and Aids," the report argues.
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- The MRC report is the first to include a provincial breakdown
of Aids-related deaths.
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- In KwaZulu-Natal province, 41.5 % of deaths are attributable
to Aids, followed by Mpumalanga with 40.7 percent, the report says.
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- Changing patterns
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- In Gauteng, South Africa's economic heartland, Aids accounts
for 32.5% of deaths, according to the report.
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- Lead researcher Debbie Bradshaw told the South African
Press Association that the findings were based on various data sets, including
official cause of death figures.
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- It also considered changing patterns in death ratios,
and identified nine death-causing conditions that showed a distinct change.
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- "There is some uncertainty, because we don't have
the truth at hand to compare it against," Dr Bradshaw said. "But
we don't think we are over- or understating the picture. These are the
best estimates we can come up with."
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- More than five million South Africans are HIV positive
and the government has been criticised by Aids campaigners for being slow
to roll out anti-retroviral drugs to all.
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- © BBC MMV
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4558367.stm
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