Mortality rate down in south Africa

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Thursday announced that the mortality rate continues to drop in the country. The report released by Stats SA showed that in 2010 there were more than 540,000 deaths, declining by 6.2 percent from over 570, 000 deaths in 2009. Tuberculosis is the major killer in South Africa. The report said "Tuberculosis maintained its rank as the number one leading cause of death, accounting for about 12 percent of deaths that occurred in 2010." The data showed a fall in other diseases. The report said "There were notable decreases in the number of deaths due to influenza, pneumonia and intestinal infectious diseases between 2009 and 2010." On the contrary the number of deaths due to diabetes mellitus and HIV disease increased by 3.8 percent and 3.0 percent respectively during the same period, Xinhua quoted the report as saying. The report showed that most deaths were among the males in the ages between 30 and 39. Findings also indicate that 10 percent of deaths were due to non-natural causes in 15 to 19 years of age, including transport accidents and assaults.