Changing trends in child health in Soweto. The Baragwanath Hospital picture.

Preventable disease is still prevalent among the children of Soweto. However, as viewed from a hospital perspective, there have been substantial improvements in child health in this area. These improvements, in relation to overall paediatrics, apply in the areas of infant mortality, admissions and mortality due to malnutrition and gastro-enteritis, and severity of and number of admissions for rickets. In relation to newborn infants, the improvements are reflected in the perinatal mortality rates and incidence of low-birthweight babies.