Western Cape has highest life expectancy in country
IN RESPONSE to the article published on March 7 in the Cape Times titled: “Hike in deaths in the province is preventable, says ANC”.
The Western Cape Department of Health mortality data shows there was a decline in the number of deaths in the province from 46 254 in 2009 to 42 900 in 2013. This is in line with the number of deaths reported by Statistics SA for the same period.
The Western Cape has the highest life expectancy in the country and, therefore, that simply means we have an ageing population as compared with other provinces. The elderly will inevitably die from natural causes (mostly non-communicable diseases).
According to Stats SA, in 2015 the Western Cape had 10.4% diabetes death rate for people older than 65 years, and diabetes was the number one cause of death in this age group as compared with the people aged between 15 and 44 where diabetes is 1.3%, sitting at number eight as the cause of death in this age group.
The province does not dispute the statistics in the article. However, diabetes is a disease of lifestyle where behaviour change is required. Studies have shown that the province has an overweight population which is one of the contributing factors to the development of Type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes, unlike some other non-communicable diseases, does not only rely on chronic medication, but needs active lifestyle modification such as weight management, diet, non-smoking and less consumption of alcohol.
That is why in our Provincial Strategic Goal 3, we have an integrated approach to increase wellness and fight social ills that may lead to non-communicable diseases. One of those interventions is the implementation of the Western Cape on Wellness which seeks to fight obesity, improve systolic blood pressure and hypertension.
We would also like take note that South Africa’s highest cause of death remains tuberculosis, however, the Western Cape is doing very well in managing TB.
According to Stats SA, our TB rate is 5.3%, under the country’s TB rate of 7.2%, the Eastern Cape is 8.6% while Free State is 11.8%.
The rate of TB as the cause of death is number one or two in all other provinces. This is a clear indication that the Western Cape has actively worked towards successfully treating people affected by TB in the province.
We also have a well-functioning antiretroviral programme, which has resulted in an ageing clinically well HIV- positive population, who will not die from TB associated with HIV, but rather from age-related conditions which include diabetes.
It is our commitment as the Western Cape to improve health outcomes through patient-centred care as highlighted in our Healthcare 2030 strategic plan. To do this, Western Cape Health has identified four areas such as Community Safety Improvement Partnerships, First 100 Days, Western Cape on Wellness and Young Women and Girls as its priorities to tackle social ills and improve wellness.
These are projects within the Provincial Strategic Goal 3.