Deputy Health Minister Dr. Joe Phaahla says while diabetes remains the second leading underlying cause of death in the country, it is the highest cause of death amongst females.
Phaahla has been outlining some of the governments plans to tackle the burden of the emerging pandemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Speaking in Pretoria, he says the NCDs which include among others diabetes, hypertension and cancers are a looming health crisis that requires urgent attention.
Phaahla says in 2020, diabetes accounted for 6.6% of all deaths, following COVID-19, which became the leading cause of death.
He says, "When we look at gender-specific aspects, also we see that diabetes is the leading cause of death amongst females at 8.2% having increased, that was in the 2020 statistics have increased from 7.7% in 2018. So the rate at which that it is becoming a dominant cause of death is actually concerning in our country."
