ANC failing children: increasing number of children under 5 dying

The 2009/2010 ‘Child Gauge' report released yesterday by the Children's Institute identifies South Africa as one of just 12 countries in the world to have seen their infant morality rate increase since 1990 (when the figure was 56 deaths per 1000). The report relies on figures from UNICEF, going up to 2008 (67 deaths per 1000). It found that that 50% of children in 7 of the country's 9 provinces are living in poverty.

The infant mortality rate is a key litmus test for how well a democracy is functioning. Quite clearly, it is a test we are failing. And we now have a duty to question why. The report has once again served to put this critical shortcoming on the public agenda. Indeed, it is surprising the statistic has not received more attention, given its deep significance. We need to ask and answer the question: ‘How is it that South Africa, a middle income country, with a substantial budget and good basic infrastructure is just one of 12 countries to increase its infant mortality rate? Something is fundamentally wrong.

I will be writing to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Health to convene an urgent meeting to discuss and action this report.

There are two critical factors which need to be considered. The first is HIV/Aids, a large contributor to the high rate. Here, we are living former President Thabo Mbeki's legacy. His denial and Aids-quackery - and the ANC's failure to speak out to stop it - has set back the fight against this pandemic on almost every front. This is one of the effects. Secondly, the poor state of our public health care sector is to blame, as a significant number of infants die due to the poor care administered to them in their first 30 days.

On both fronts the ANC government needs to take responsibility. It has done much to reverse the damage done with regards to the former; it has a great deal to do to even begin to properly address its attitude to the latter.

Another chief reason for infant mortality is poor nutrition, revealing that on average nationally, over 7% of children under the age of 9 years old are underweight. In the Northern Cape, a deeply concerning 38% of children are underweight.

It is fair comment to say that the level of human development under the ANC administration is getting progressively worse. South Africa has dropped from number 103 in the world in 2000 on the United Nation's Human Development Index to 129 in 2009. This, together with a wide range of other international indicators, repeatedly demonstrate that the ANC is failing to properly manage our democracy.

Ultimately, its attitude is born of uncaring. It is easy to get lost in a world of statistics, but every number is a person; every infant that dies affects horribly all those people directly connected to him or her. That a proper discussion about the problem has not yet been initiated by the ANC tells you everything.

I will be writing to the Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Health to request that an urgent meeting is convened to discuss this report and its recommendations so that the reasons for this failure can be examined and so that action can be taken.

Statement issued by Mike Waters, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of health, July 28 2010

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter