| CHAPTER
4 THE EXTENT OF FIREARM
DEATHS AND INJURIES IN SOUTH AFRICA |
Stephanie Burrows, Alex Butchart and Margie
Peden
The National Injury and Violence Surveillance Consortium
Firearms are one of the leading causes of non-natural death in South Africa and studies by medical practitioners show a dramatic increase In firearm injuries being treated in South African emergency rooms. This chapter explores the extent of firearm injuries and deaths in South Africa. The demographic profile of the victims, the activities they were involved in when they were shot and the costs of treating firearm injuries are also examined.
In a study of 10 mortuaries, deaths from firearms equalled traffic fatalities. The rates of firearm death vary by location. The greatest proportion of deaths involving firearms occur in KwaZulu-Natal where they exceed the proportion of deaths caused by traffic. In the vast majority of firearm deaths examined, the deaths occurred as homicides (87%). Another 11% were suicides where firearms are used in just over one third of incidents. Young males are particularly at risk. Different age groups and different race groups are affected in different ways by firearms, e.g. for whites the greatest risk is for suicide. The cost of firearm injuries and deaths is staggering in terms of direct health costs and lost productivity resulting from premature disability and death. In addition they divert health care resources and overload scare hospital facilities.
The Extent of Firearm Injuries and Deaths in South Africa
| V | iolence, and the resulting trauma, are fast overtaking infectious diseases as the principal cause of ill-health and premature death. It is likely that only AIDS will compete with violence as the primary community health hazard in the foreseeable future.1 |
| A study by medical researchers undertaken in Durban showed that the percentage of murders committed with firearms increased from 48% in 1995/96 to 63% in 1998.2 A dramatic increase in firearm injuries has also been observed in hospital emergency rooms, with the number of gunshot victims treated at King Edward VIII Hospital rising by a staggering 873% between 1983 and 1993 (with a concomitant 30% drop in the number of patients treated for stab wounds)3, and at Groote Schuur Hospital increasing from 400 to 1162 between 1990 and 1997.1 Furthermore, a Cape Town study revealed that the number of firearm-related injuries among under 19-year olds almost trebled between 1992 and 1996 from 142 to 421, while the number of firearms deaths for this age group increased from 32 to 87 over the same period.4 | |
From the statistics available on firearm-related injuries we are able to obtain an idea of the extent of the problem and the severity of the injuries sustained. However, the effects that firearms have are broader than these statistics. In addition to the direct effects on health, firearm violence has many indirect effects that diminish quality of life. The World Health Organisation has discussed the societal consequences of all kinds of violence, but their
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