Appendix 4

STATS SA rejoinder to the MRC’s response

Rejoinder to the MRC’s response

Stats SA, Pretoria
August 2000

Stats SA has had discussions with the MRC and most of their differences have been resolved. Stats SA would like to make the following clarifications:

  1. Stats SA was asked by the Department of Home Affairs to produce a response to the newspaper article that appeared in Sunday Times. This response was not meant for publication, but it was meant as a spring board for further discussion. Stats SA raised issues of concern in this document.
  2. Stats SA acknowledges that the MRC is mandated to do health-related research. The MRC was operating within its mandate in engaging in AIDS research and presenting its findings to the Presidential AIDS Review Panel. Stats SA supports the MRC in its research endeavours and dissociates itself from allegations that the MRC sought to discredit the government by presenting its findings to the AIDS Review Panel.
  3. In accordance with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, the National Statistical Office is entitled to comment on published statistics. The Sunday Times only gave a small extract of the actual presentation, but this was what Stats SA was asked to comment on as a matter of urgency.
  4. Having later seen the more detailed presentation of the MRC, Stats SA agrees that the mortality profile, especially that of females, has changed over the past decade.
  5. While it is hard to separate out deaths due to HIV/AIDS from those due to other causes, the mortality profiles portrayed suggest that the deaths in the younger ages could be possibly explained in part by the impact of the AIDS epidemic.
  6. Prior to presentation of MRC’s findings, there was no clear institutional framework for handling mortality research findings that could be controversial. An interdepartmental task team for mortality statistics has been formed by the Director-Generals of the Department of Health, Home Affairs, Welfare and Population Development, the Acting-Head of Stats SA and the President of the MRC. The Task Team comprises of representatives of all the above mentioned Departments. The Task Team is developing a coherent approach for the rapid processing and analysis of mortality and causes of death statistics. With this Task Team in place, unnecessary controversies will be minimised.

[Contents]