Deaths from accidents, poisoning and violence--differences between the various population groups in the RSA.

The pattern of deaths from accidents, poisoning and violence of the four population groups in the RSA for 1980 was examined in terms of the number of male and female deaths, separately and together, of certain WHO International Classification of Diseases (ICD) groupings of deaths from those causes. The main findings were: (i) that motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) accounted for 3.6% of all deaths in whites, 3.7% in coloureds, 3.1% in Asians and 2.2% in blacks, male deaths being 4 times as frequent as female and more than 70% of those deaths occurring in people under 40 years; 6% of MVAs in whites, 38% in coloureds, 17% in Asians and 34% in blacks involved pedestrians; (ii) that the next most common cause of death under these ICD headings was suicide in whites (1.6% of total) and homicide in coloureds (4.8% of total) and blacks (3.9% of total); and (iii) that under the ICD grouping 'other accidents', 45% of those deaths in whites, 58% in coloureds, 79% in Asians and 36% in blacks were due to drowning, with over 80% of deaths from drowning in people under 40 years.