SA health system in poor state: report

Professor Mickey Chopra says 20 000 babies are still-born in South Africa every year

A report published by the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) has found that 260 mothers, babies and children below the age of five die every day in South Africa.

The council's Professor Mickey Chopra says 20- 000 babies are still-born in South Africa every year and another 22 000 die before reaching one month of age. Reports of poor quality care in the public health systems are rife and include concerns raised recently on the high death rate of children at Frere Hospital in the Eastern Cape.

Chopra says the report also raises concerns about the inadequate equipment in children's wards at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital, the largest in the southern hemisphere.