The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : IMA for long-term plan to bring down mortality in accident cases

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 07, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

IMA for long-term plan to bring down mortality in accident cases

By Our Special Correspondent

VISAKHAPATNAM, APRIL 6. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) believes that there is need for an integrated long-term plan to reduce road accidents and improve care for accident victims to bring down mortality and morbidity significantly.

Speaking to newspersons on the eve of the World Health Day here today, the IMA president of the Visakhapatnam branch, N. Subrahmanyam, said that the World Health Organisation had chosen road safety as its theme for this year. Road accidents claim 1,171,000 lives every year in the world and occupy the ninth place among all causes of death. It is projected that road accidents would move up to the third largest cause for deaths by 2020, therefore WHO has chosen road safety as its theme to educate people on the need to follow traffic rules and also prevail on governments to improve roads and facilities for the care of accident victims.

Dr. Subrahmanyam said that 10,000 people die due to road accidents in Andhra Pradesh every year. He appreciated the measures being taken by the State Government to create trauma care centres along the Guntur-Hyderabad, Vijayawada-Hyderabad, Vijayawada-Chennai and Hyderabad-Karimnagar highways. The Visakhapatnam branch of the IMA offered its services if a trauma care centre is opened along the Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam highway.

It has identified the need for such a centre between Ichapuram and Kasibugga, considered vulnerable to accidents. The IMA has expressed concern over the poor condition of roads. Even though the number of vehicles has increased steeply in the last 10 years, there was no improvement in the roads.

Also, the apathy among people towards traffic rules was appalling. Driving under the influence of alcohol also contributed to increase in the number of accidents. Even though the number of accidents is going up, there is no effort to augment trauma care facilities. Saying that the first hour after the accident is considered the `golden hour' in medical parlance to save the life of the victim, Dr. Subrahmanyam said that the victims are brought to the hospital late leading to complications or death.

The IMA favours provision of ambulance and para-medical staff at the trauma centres to provide first-aid and shift the victims to the nearest hospital in a proper manner to reduce mortality and morbidity. The IMA strongly felt the need to make wearing of helmets compulsory for two-wheel drivers and seat belts for car drivers. Breath-analysers should be used to check driving on the highways under the influence of alcohol. The condition of vehicles also should be checked regularly to enforce standards. IMA city vice-president, L.V. Raghavarao, and secretary, L. Kalyanaprasad, said that a symposium would be conducted at King George Hospital tomorrow on road safety.

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