Abstract:
Intentional and unintentional injuries were reported to be the
second leading cause of Disability Adjusted Life Years in South
Africa in 2000. We present household experiences of such injuries
in 5 impoverished housing settlements in Johannesburg, Gauteng
Province. Data for this study were extracted from the database of
the Health, Environment and Development (HEAD) project. The
incidence of reported intentional injuries was determined to be
double that of unintentional injuries. Households in the Hospital
Hill and Riverlea settlements reported the highest prevalence of
stabbing and gunshot incidents. We concluded that impoverished
South African neighbourhoods bear a high burden of intentional
injury; surveillance mechanisms are required to inform prevention
strategies at an individual, a community and a societal level.
