South Africa faces a race against time to reduce the risk factor profile and rapidly improve the detection and management of the NCDs in those who already have these conditions. With the exception of tobacco use, South African data shows that the pattern of risk factors  for NCDs has deteriorated substantially during the last two decades, and that detection, management and outcomes of care for those with NCDs are still non-optimal.

Three South African mortality audit reports, Saving Mothers, Saving Babies and Saving Children, offer a review of the healthcare provided to mothers, babies and children. Information on cause of death and avoidable factors is published in these reports, which together create a health profile of mothers, babies and children who died in health facilities, giving insight into the quality of care they received in the South African health system.

Investing in the health and wellbeing of the children of South Africa is an investment in the future development of our country. South Africa still has a relatively youthful population with a third of the population under 15 years of age3, although we are in the midst of demographic transition. The health of these  children needs to be a priority, a principle adopted through the ratification of the1990 United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child.

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.

One of the most tragic consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is the huge number of children orphaned as a result of parents dying from AIDS. (Some of these children are HIV-positive themselves - having been infected by their mothers either at birth or through breast milk.)