IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

A report on the “Determinants of health among the youth aged 15-34 years in South Africa” was prepared using data from the Mid-Year Population Estimates 2019, the South Africa Demographic and Health Survey 2016, the General Household Survey 2018, and the Mortality and Causes of Death 2016.

According to the mid-year population estimates, 35,1% of the population of South Africa is comprised by the youth, a higher percentage in Gauteng. The youth from the white and the Indian/Asian population groups are more likely to complete post-secondary education than the youth from the coloured and the black African population groups.

Results from sexual activity show that a quarter of the young men had multiple sexual partners, with about 70% who used a condom with the most recent partner in the 12 months before the survey. When it comes to women, less than 10% had multiple sexual partners with about 60% that used a condom with the most recent partner.

Injectables were the most commonly used contraceptives (52,8%), followed by condoms (24,3%), then the pill at 10,3%. Intrauterine device (IUD) as the less commonly used method among the modern contraceptives. A total of 58 women and 35 men used codeine containing medication for the effect rather than the medicinal effect.

Mortality and causes of death data show that the leading natural cause of death among the youth was tuberculosis and the leading non-natural cause was other external causes of accidental injury. Tuberculosis was also the leading cause of death for black Africans and Indian/Asians as well as in all provinces with the exception of Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape, where HIV was the leading natural cause of death.