The Gauteng Executive Council (EXCO) has welcomed the mid-year population estimates for 2013 by Statistics South Africa, which found that people live longer in Gauteng. EXCO held its monthly meeting on Wednesday.
Gauteng province is in second place at the provincial average life expectancy at birth.
Life expectancy of South Africans increased by almost a year from the previous reporting period to 59,6 years. Life expectancy at birth for 2013 is estimated at 57,7 years for males and 61,4 years for females.
In Gauteng, the life expectancy for women from 2011 to 2016 is estimated at 63,3 years and for men is at 61,7 years.
Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said the efforts by the provincial government in encouraging healthy lifestyles were beginning to pay off.
“The Department of Health has embarked on a number of initiatives to ensure that Gauteng residents received improved healthcare services,” said Mokonyane.
In addition, Mokonyane said the department had also been strengthening Primary Health Care (PHC) services in line with the national strategy to re-engineer PHC services to prepare for the introduction of the National Health Insurance.
“The demand for these services is enormous, we have more than 20 million visits a year to our PHCs,” she said.
The Gauteng Department of Health has had a number of initiatives to promote healthy lifestyle. These initiatives are also critical in addressing communicable and non-communicable diseases; tackling the risk factors associated with obesity, unhealthy dieting and physical inactivity.
In this regard, Premier Mokonyane and her Executive called on all Gauteng residents to look after their health by exercising and going for regular check-ups and health screenings.
For more information contact the Premier’s spokesperson:
Thebe Mohatle
Cell: 082 373 1146
