Aids the leading cause of death among SA youth

HIV/AIDS, interpersonal violence and road injuries are the leading cause of death among young people in South Africa, a new global study on adolescent health around the world has suggested.

According to the findings of the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Well-being published this week, tuberculosis was the fourth leading killer among 10 to 24-year-olds in the country, followed by self-harm (suicide), exposure to mechanical forces and lower respiratory infections.

Diarrhoeal diseases, alcohol disorders and drug use disorders were also in the top 10 causes of death among young people, the report has revealed.

In 2013, 5641 people in the 20-24 age group died due to HIV/Aids, followed by 2359 as a result of violence, with 1587 dying on roads. TB, which is regarded as the number one killer among the general South African population, killed 1479 people between the ages of 20 and 24 in 2013, closely followed by suicide with 1 394 deaths. Diarrhoea killed about 400 and alcohol abuse killed 436.

Led by the Washington-based Institute for Health Metric and Evaluation, the commission brought together 30 world experts from 14 countries led by four academic institutions including University College of London, University of Melbourne, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Columbia University.

Globally the leading causes of death in 2013 for young people aged 10 to 14 were HIV/Aids, road injuries, and drowning at 25.2percent, whereas transport injuries were the leading cause of death for the ages of 15 to 19 years at 14.2percent. For 20 to 24-year-old’s, that figure stood at 15.6 percent. Adolescents aged 10 to 24 years represent over a quarter of the world’s population (about 1.8 billion), 89 percent of whom live in developing countries.

The report argued that most health problems and lifestyle risk factors for disease in later years such as mental health disorders, obesity, smoking and unsafe sex, emerged during these formative years, and therefore investment in their health was crucial.

The commission’s authors made several recommendations, including expanding access to free secondary education and protecting teenagers from early marriages when younger than 18.