Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
W Cape’s people living longer
High life expectancy attributed to a functioning healthcare system
LIVING in the Western Cape adds more than two years to your life, according to statistics from the provincial health department.
People in the Western Cape die on average at 67.5 years old, compared to 65 years nationally, according to the provincial health department’s Annual Performance plan for 2019/2020.
Women in this province are expected to live up to 70 compared to 67 nationally, while men live to 65 here compared to 61.5 nationally.
This life expectancy bonus also extends to newborns at the very beginning of their lives.
In the Western Cape, 18 out of every 1 000 babies born will die, whereas nationally that figure is 23 deaths per 1000 live births.
Western Cape Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo said health systems nationally are experiencing severe pressure, thanks to the tough economic climate coupled with a high burden of non-communicable diseases.
“Despite the various challenges, the department has made impressive strides towards providing access to quality health care for all the people of the Western Cape and beyond.
“We can celebrate the highest life expectancy in the country,” she said.
The department attributes this to proximity to healthcare centres.
“Today, 91.5% of Western Cape households live within 30 minutes of a health-care facility.
“This is a key reason why we have the highest life expectancy in South Africa,” Mbombo said.
There are 6.6 million people living in the Western Cape, of which 75% are uninsured.
They are served by 52 hospitals and 462 primary healthcare centres.
The department said it had the only digitised records in public health care in the country.
The picture of Western Cape being a leader in local health care does not only come from the provincial department’s own reports.
Statistics SA together with the SA Medical Research Council, conducted a Demographic and Health Survey in 2016 that provides some of the most recent nationwide statistics of provincial health indicators.
According to the survey, women in the Western Cape have the fewest children in the country, with an average of 2.1 children per woman.
The provinces where women have the most children are Limpopo and North West, with an average of 3.1 each. In terms of the HIV burden, the Western Cape is just below the national average. In this province, 18% of men and women between the ages of 15-49 are HIV positive compared to a national average of 21%. The lowest rate is in Limpopo, with 10%, and the highest in KwaZulu-Natal with 30%.
However, the Western Cape has the highest burden of women over the age of 15 who are overweight or obese, at a whopping 73% – compared to a still-shocking national average of 68%.
Correspondingly, we also have one of the highest numbers of women and men suffering from hypertension (high blood pressure).