Illnesses in South Africa: Epidemiological Perspective

This study examined the illness or diseases affecting people living in South Africa. In this study we focus on the dependent variables of health status and whether subjects suffered from illness/sickness. The study focused on respondent’s age 15-49 years, corresponding to a total of 55,384 people composed of 25,859 males and 29,525 females. Among this population, 5,935 people suffered from illness/injury, including 2,469 (41.6%) males and 3,466 (58.4%) females. This article provides weighted multivariate estimates of illness by province, in association with background characteristics of the target population, and selected socioeconomic and demographic variables. Tuberculosis (TB) is the second most common cause of illness/injury only in the provinces of Kwazulu Natal (9.1%), North West (5.4%) and Limpopo (4.2%). People who are not married have 1.2 times greater chance than those currently married to suffer from illnesses/injuries. Those with non-living spouses are 1.09 times more likely than the others to suffer from illness/injury. This study concluded that rapid action is needed to fight illness/diseases to produce a healthy population. Therefore, follow-up care and special consideration is urgently needed for the weaker provinces like KwaZulu Natal.