AIDS and traffic

Minna has been writing about frequent deaths we've heard from Joyce. Most of them are due to AIDS or traffic.

The death rate in South Africa is now estimated to be 22.45 deaths/1,000 population which is roughly double what it is in Western Europe. Even with much higher birth rate, the South African population is actually decreasing at the rate of 0.5% per year.

HIV/AIDS is generally considered to be the single most common killer in Southern Africa. Its social effects, caused by deaths that focus on people that are young and economically active, are enormous. However, it is not that easy to see AIDS in the metropolitan Cape Town area. The city is teaming with people, the modern anti-retroviral drugs are quite effective, and when people finally get the AIDS they waste away behind closed doors. You simply do not see them.

In contrast, traffic accident are a very visible way to go and is among the most high ranking causes of death in South Africa. During my daily commute, I quite often listen to traffic announcements from radio to know which roads are blocked either by rush hour congestion, accidents or road works, in this order.

Even with frequent accidents on the roads of Cape Town, this week has been exceptional in number of accidents I've seen. On Monday, the M3 inbound to town was blocked all the way to N2 due to an accident when I drove past out.

On Tuesday, there was a pedestrian lying on the pavement where Modderdam Road branches out of N2. He had been hit by a bus. He was being attended to and had a neck brace and a leg in a splint. Today, there was an other similar accident exactly in the same spot! When I drove past, only a couple of police cars were still there guarding a body of a pedestrian. A sheet had been pulled over him. Stiff arms and legs stuck out.