Global Dialysis Perspective: South Africa.

Abstract

South Africa is an upper middle–income country with a population of 59.6 million people (1). Gauteng is the most densely populated province, and houses 26% of the population, followed by KwaZulu-Natal (19%), and the Western Cape (12%). About 29% of the population are <15 years old and 9% are ≥60 years. Approximately 13% of the population are seropositive for HIV. Life expectancy is estimated at 68.5 years for females and 62.5 years for males, whereas the infant mortality rate is 23.6 per 1000 live births. In 2019, the gross national income per capita was approximately $6040 (Atlas method, current US$), with 8% of the country’s gross domestic product spent on health care (2). Despite the transition to democracy in 1994, a high level of inequality remains, reflected in a Gini coefficient of 0.63 and an unemployment rate of 30% (2,3). This inequality is also reflected in a two-tiered health system. Access to a well-resourced private health care sector depends on the ability to pay for services, usually via medical insurance. Treatment for CKD is included in the set of “prescribed minimum benefits” that all registered medical insurance schemes in South Africa are obliged to provide for their members. The majority of South Africans (84%), however, are dependent on an under-resourced, government-funded, public health care sector. Public health care facilities use a sliding scale, where the fees charged are dependent on income. Indigent patients are able to access services free of charge (4). South Africa is faced with a high burden of infectious diseases (such as tuberculosis and HIV infection), noncommunicable diseases, maternal and childhood diseases, and injury-related diseases (5). These factors drive an epidemic of AKI and CKD. Two studies have estimated the population prevalence of CKD in South Africa. Adeniyi et al. (6) reported the …