Harsh Vardhan calls for heightened road safety regime to avoid trauma

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan at a function today called for a heightened road safety regime.

"Trauma is the most common cause of death for those under 45 years, with traumatic brain injury accounting for about half the mortalities. It is time we developed an integrated trauma support system in our pubic health care architecture", said Harsh Vardhan.

Addressing the 23rd annual conference of the Neuro Trauma Society of India (NTSI), the Minister noted that World Health Organisation (WHO) has predicted that road traffic accidents would become the fifth most common cause of death and disability by 2030.

"Over the years I have observed that our hospitals lack spontaneity and specialised staff to deal with trauma cases. We need an inter-disciplinary and horizontally integrated approach. I will ensure that the new National Health Policy focuses on this need." He added.

The Health Ministry is also drawing up an extensive list of suggestions for the Roads Ministry on safety.

These include punitive rules for talking on mobile phones or texting while driving and removing unnecessary speed breakers because these cause spinal injuries.

WHO's Essential Trauma Care (EsTC) project advocates a wide range of activities to decrease trauma morbidity. This comprises surveillance and basic research to preventive programmes and effective trauma management strategies.

Harsh Vardhan also said that he was concerned over the state of trauma reception in even the best hospitals of the country.

"The victims are rushed to the nearest hospital by friends and relations with great hopes, but find to their dismay that the personnel and facilities are quite ill-suited for the task. About 55-91 percent of the reported errors that contribute to preventable death occur during trauma reception and resuscitation," he added.

"Through a mix of awareness building and protocol building in the supply side we could end up saving valuable human resources. That is why I am so committed to this cause," said Harsh Vardhan.

The conference was hosted by the Doon Neuro Club and was attended by some of the leading professionals of the country drawn from Neurosurgery, Neuro-Critical Care, Neurology, Neuro-Anesthesia and Neuro-Radiology. There were also Neuro-Rehab experts and Neuro-Nurses.