@article{ref1,
title="Twenty-three-year trend in firearm deaths in the Transkei subregion of South Africa (1993-2015)",
journal="Medicine, science, and the law",
year="2018",
author="Meel, Banwari",
volume="58",
number="2",
pages="102-108",
abstract="Background Firearm-related deaths are a serious public-health problem in South Africa, which has the second-highest rate of firearm-related deaths in the world. <br><br>OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the trend in firearm deaths in the Transkei subregion of South Africa. <br><br>METHOD An autopsy record review study was conducted at the Forensic Pathology Laboratory at Mthatha over a period of 23 years (1993-2015). <br><br>RESULTS Over a 23-year period (1993-2015), 27,036 autopsies were performed at the Mthatha Forensic Pathology Laboratory on people who had died from unnatural causes. Of these, 3935 (14.2%) deaths were related to firearm injuries. The average gunshot death rate during the study period was 29/100,000 of the population annually. The majority (3236; 82%) were males, among whom the death rate was 24.4/100,000 of the population per year. The rate of gunshot deaths was 27/100,000 of the population in 1993, while in 2015 it was 12.8/100,000. About a third (1207; 31%) of victims were between 21 and 30 years of age. <br><br>CONCLUSION The gunshot death rate is at an unacceptably high level in the Transkei subregion of South Africa, especially among young people.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0025-8024",
doi="10.1177/0025802418758802",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0025802418758802"
}