Health and Safety in South Africa

Life expectancy in South Africa for male is 47 years and 49 for females. By 2002, almost 73% of the rural areas in South Africa have access to improved water sources and 86% had clean sanitation. Also in the same year, the total number of physicians is 34,829 while nurses and midwives reach 184,459. In 2003, the South African government spent about 38.6% of budget to health care system.

AIDS/HIV cases are monitored by the South African because of its alarming effects. In 2005, the South African National HIV Survey concluded that about 10.8% of the population of age 2 years old and above was already infected with the virus. The same year, there were more than 1 million AIDS orphans in South Africa due to deaths of people who were their family’s major wage earners. It is estimated that 1,000 people die every day in South Africa because of AIDS. In 2006, the ASSA2003 simulation calculates that almost 350,000 due to the virus.

In 2000, the South African government through the Department of Health drafted a 5-year plan to fight STIs, HIV and AIDS. To administer the implementation and progress of these goals, a National AIDS Council was formed. The Treatment Action Campaign is a non-profit organization that supports various programs in promoting the use of anti-retroviral medicines to avoid the transmission of HIV from mother to child. In 2003, the South African government eventually approved program to make antiretroviral medication accessible to the public.