Among the top five
 Dr
Kapila Jayaratne, National Programme Manager on Maternal and Child
Morbidity and Mortality surveillance , Family Health Bureau, Ministry of
Health
Excerpts
Q: Since your focus is on child injuries, where does Sri Lanka
rank in the global scenario on child related injuries caused by
accidents both on the roads and in their own homes?
A: In Sri Lanka, each year hundreds of children die from
injury related causes. Injuries have been ranked among the top five
leading causes of death among this age group. One fifth of annual
hospital admissions are due to injuries. Apart from the acute morbidity,
injured children suffer from long term disability and chronic pain that
limit their ability to perform age-appropriate everyday activities over
their lifetime. A majority of these mortality and morbidity are
preventable.
Q: What about deaths caused by such injuries?
A: Data on child injuries in Sri Lanka show that around 600
children under 16 years die each year due to injury-related causes. This
is 10% of total deaths of the same age group. Aspiration, transport
accidents, drowning, poisoning and animal bites are the leading causes.
Apart from this, every year 270,000 under 16 children are admitted to
hospitals due to injuries. This is one fifth of all admissions of the
same age group. A majority (54%) of cases are due to external injuries
sustained in motor accidents. Every year nearly 22,000 children are
reported as sustaining fractures or dislocations. Other major causes of
hospital admissions are animal bites, poisoning, asphyxiation and burns.
The approximate lower margin of the cost of hospital care amounts to Rs.
1100 million per year.
 Q:
So what is being done to prevent such injuries and deaths?
A. There are three Es in the prevention of childhood injuries
- Education, Enforcement (law regulations) and Engineering (physical
environment modifications). Family Health Bureau (FHB) and SLMA Expert
Committee on Ergonomics (SLMA -ECE) in collaboration with UNICEF
conducted several activities with the objective of Childhood Injury
Prevention through Maternal and Child Health Networks over the last few
months.
Q: What was the outcome of those discussions?
A: A poster on childhood injury prevention was developed as a
collaborative project by FHB, SLMA - ECE and UNICEF. It was designed to
suit Sri Lankan contexts to raise awareness among all relevant parties.
The poster shows the vulnerabilities of different age groups for
injuries and offers advice and prevention options available in a
graphical framework. A total of 15,000 posters were printed in three
community languages (Sinhala, Tamil and English.) The information given
on these posters will serve as guidelines for all first contact
physicians, including public health midwives, Medical Officer of Health
offices, health care institutions and general practitioners.
We launched it at a ceremony held at Health Education Bureau recently
for the media. At the FHB, we also developed a video called 'Imagine'
with SafeKids Worldwide on prevention of child injuries in Sri Lanka and
also translated it into Sinhala. Both English and Sinhalese versions
were shared with the electronic media and social networks.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTsA_eFI5qQ
The Ministry of Health is also teaching children survival techniques
e.g during swimming classes . |
