LOOKING BACK

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 50 YEARS AGO

After a widespread public outcry at delays resulting in unnecessary road deaths, ambulance services in the Southern Transvaal are being streamlined and co-ordinated to operate under one emergency telephone number — and without apartheid restrictions. People will be able to call an ambulance from any telephone in any area, using the new number, 009. The call will be automatically routed to the nearest ambulance service, and the ambulance will take casualties to the nearest hospital. In accidents involving Africans, ambulances intended for Whites will turn out in emergencies. This decision follows the announcement last year in Parliament that there must be no petty apartheid in the ambulance service when emergencies are involved. — August 30 1970

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 25 YEARS AGO

A million South Africans Rare carrying HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS, an expert said this week. Peter Doyle, an actuary with Metropolitan Life, said 20,000 cases of fully blown AIDS could be recorded this year, with 10,000 deaths – more than one every hour. His statistics back findings by National AIDS Conference of SA head Dr James McIntyre that South Africa was “heading for a Uganda-type scenario”. AIDS consultant Dr Clive Evian said 20 percent of people in KwaZulu-Natal were infected and the epidemic in South Africa was growing at a faster rate than in other African countries. — August 27 1995