On the 27 October SHA INC and SIMI MEDIA hosted a Life Expectancy (LE) symposium in Durban. This symposium discussed and addressed the big questions on LE. The keynote speaker was an international life expectancy (LE) expert DR Scott Kush, who is a senior medical researcher with the LE group headquarters in San Francisco, California, USA. The local speakers that were part of this symposium were Dr Yatish Kara, who is a pediatrician in Durban, Mr Wim Loots, who is a qualified Actuary with over 20 years consulting experience, as well as Advocate PJ DE Bruyn SC, who has been practicing since 1971. 

The symposium addressed the issue of LE, which is essential in personal injury claims in that it estimates the average number of years that a group of compromised or injured individuals are expected to live. The final award values for personal injury claims are largely dependent on the projected LE of the injured or compromised individual. The symposium brought under one roof international and local practitioners in various fields, as the question of LE impacts in different fields including, doctors, life and health insurers, therapists and other health professionals, statisticians, actuaries, case managers and relevant government officials. 

The importance of having an international expert on the issue of LE is that South Africa does not have a model unique to determine LE, so we are currently reliant on foreign statistics, especially those of the USA. There are also no statisticians who have published on the topic of LE in SA. There is also confusion in regards to collecting data, which often leads to a difficulty in correctly and objectively identifying all possible medical conditions relevant to the reduction in LE. 

The symposium was a huge success and the topic of life expectancy in compromised individuals was heavily debated by the panel and attendees, showing that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done on this field.