Health:
With reference to child deaths in the province:
(a) How many children have died in the past 12 months, (b) what is the most common cause of child deaths in the province and (c) how many children died as a result of (i) natural causes, (ii) murder and (iii) accidents?
The data provided below is divided between all in-hospital deaths and those recorded by Forensic Pathology Services of children under the age of 1 year old in the Western Cape for the specified time period. However, there are deaths that occur outside of a health facility which do not get seen by FPS- these deaths will not be in our data.
The Department previously obtained this information from the Department of Home affairs through the Death Notification Form, but Home Affairs stopped sending this information several years ago.
In-hospital death data:
Herewith the Inpatient deaths at our hospitals per month per age and a further breakdown of the under 1 years.
Please submit what you feel relevant for the question.
|
Pat Age In Years |
Jan-21 |
Feb-21 |
Mar-21 |
Apr-21 |
May-21 |
Jun-21 |
Jul-21 |
Aug-21 |
Sep-21 |
Oct-21 |
Nov-21 |
Dec-21 |
Grand Total |
|
0 |
80 |
72 |
93 |
85 |
84 |
81 |
82 |
102 |
70 |
70 |
72 |
79 |
970 |
|
1 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
9 |
7 |
7 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
7 |
7 |
66 |
|
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
22 |
||
|
3 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
17 |
||
|
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
||||
|
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
||
|
6 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
|||||
|
7 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
|||||||
|
8 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
|||||
|
9 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
13 |
|
|
10 |
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
|||||
|
11 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
||||||
|
12 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
12 |
||||
|
13 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
20 |
|||
|
14 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
20 |
|
|
15 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
26 |
|
|
16 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
24 |
||
|
17 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
44 |
|
Grand Total |
110 |
95 |
116 |
108 |
124 |
101 |
108 |
125 |
101 |
94 |
97 |
119 |
1298 |
Data from Forensic Pathology Services
Definition of Unnatural Death
- any death due to physical or chemical influence, direct or indirect, or related complications;
- any death, including those deaths which would normally be considered to be a death due to natural causes, which may have been the result of an act of commission or omission which may be criminal in nature;
- any death as contemplated in section 56 of the Health Professions Act, 1974(Act No. 56 of 1974); and
- any death which is sudden and unexpected, or unexplained, or where the cause of death is not apparent.
This data relates to cases admitted to the Forensic Pathology Services as unnatural deaths for the calendar year 2021, where children are defined as <=17 years old.
(a) How many children have died in the past 12 months (1421)
(b) what is the most common cause of child deaths in the province - Natural / Respiratory deaths
(c) how many children died as a result of
(i) natural causes - 486
(ii) murder - 185
(iii) accidents - 380
(iv) under investigation - 370
