There have been no previous attempts to undertake a national burden of disease (BoD) study in South Africa.1 Only about 35 countries worldwide have initiated or completed BoD studies. Analyses of SA’s existing mortality data highlighted deficiencies in the death statistics, with under-registration and  misclassification.2-4 In 1996, the latest year for which full cause of death data are available for SA, 14.8% of the deaths were described as ‘ill-defined’ since exact cause was unknown, and 17.1% as due to ‘undetermined injuries’, making it impossible to utilise the cause of death data on face value.

View the complete Initial estimates from the South African National Burden of Disease Study, 2000 Policy Brief