Crime, Violence and Injury Research Unit
The National Injury Mortality Surveillance System (NIMSS)
The NIMSS remains the most detailed source of information on the “who, what, when and where” of fatal injuries in South Africa and also a useful source of information with which to monitor the effectiveness of prevention initiatives, injury trends and the accuracy of other data sources. In 2008 the NIMSS collected fatal injury information for 2007 from 39 mortuaries in seven different provinces (between 42 and 49% of all injury deaths). Since 2001 the NIMSS has had full coverage in 4 cities (Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town), and for the years 2006 and 2007, it collected the data for full coverage for the provinces of Gauteng and Mpumalanga. This significant increase in the scope of NIMSS’s overall coverage has enabled the comparison of injury magnitude and trends in both urban and rural areas of South Africa.
Current analyses involve rural and urban differences in childhood injury deaths as well as rural and urban differences in traffic-related injury deaths. Detailed analyses of the occurrence of violence, traffic and uninetetional mortality in South African cities continued in 2008, consistent with the strategic benefits of the city focus, and the requirements for more sophisticated causal analysis.
The CVI continued its negotiation with the National and selected Provincial Departments of Health on the expansion of the NIMSS and the associated support required from the state mortuary system. The NIMSS report for 2007 was released at UNISA in the City of Tshwane on the 5 November 2008. Additional outputs produced by the NIMSS included mortuary-specific reports, and customised reports on drowning and fatal gun violence, among others.
The NIMSS is also used as a useful source of information for further study by Masters and PhD students, both within the MRC-UNISA CVI, as well as externally by students registered at other South African Universities. Topics for post-graduate study include adolescent violence, pedestrian injuries, gun violence and male interpersonal violence. Data requests and analyses over and above that available via the NIMSS Annual Reports are also provided.
Provincial Reports
Provincial Reports
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Provincial Report |
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