Health Systems Trust (HST) has been producing the District Health Barometer (DHB) for the past 12 years. During this time, the Barometer has become firmly entrenched as a reliable source of information on the overall performance of the public health sector across the provinces and health districts in the country and has become an important planning and management resource for health service providers, managers, researchers and policy-makers.
Originally developed by HST in response to a need for accessible management information in South Africa, over time the information included in the Barometer has expanded to provide commentary and analysis of key issues and trends towards the attainment of strategic health goals.
After consultation with key stakeholders and users of the Barometer, a decision to divide the DHB into two separate but complimentary publications was made: the DHB: District Health Profiles 2017/18 and the DHB 2017/18. The DHB: District Health Profiles provides a wide variety of information designed to facilitate the district health planning process while the DHB will provide analysis and commentary of selected indicators as in the past 12 years.
It is therefore my pleasure to introduce you to the inaugural edition of the DHB District Health Profiles. This edition of the DHB: District Health Profiles includes 60 indicators on social determinants of health, women and maternal health, child and school health, HIV, TB, non-communicable diseases and Ideal Clinics. It also includes the population distribution, local municipality boundaries and health facility locations, the leading causes of death as well as budget and expenditure information for each district.