THE Accident Prevention Project under the Department of Health is planning to collect injury data during the month of September for use in starting accident prevention programs.

Senior officials with the project and orthopaedic surgeons from hospitals throughout Myanmar met in Yangon on August 13 and 14 to discuss ways to collect injury data.

According to the plan, participating surgeons will collect injury data from 30 hospitals throughout the country throughout next month. The information will be collated and analysed by project officials in October and reports will be released in November and December.

The project will be conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organisation.

The project manager, Professor Dr Kyaw Myint Naing, said personal injury is the first or second most common form of illness in hospitals in all states and divisions except Chin State.

According to the Department of Health, injuries are the most common form of illness in Myanmar and the third leading cause of death in the country following malaria and tuberculosis.

Dr Kyaw Myint Naing said the project conducted its first injury survey at Yangon General Hospital in 2003 and another month-long survey at hospitals in 25 townships throughout the country in August 2005.

The 2005 survey revealed that Mandalay General Hospital had the highest number of injury cases (1071) among the 25 hospitals, followed by Yangon General Hospital (1013).

Dr Kyaw Myint Naing said the main objective of the project was to help people understand the nature and causes of injuries so they can learn how to prevent them.

“It is the best if we can prevent injuries before they happen,” he said, adding that people need to realise that injuries can occur even while undertaking routine activities.

He said the project was also trying to establish injury registries in five district hospitals that would use computerised reporting systems for continuous surveillance and monitoring of accident trends.

“We are also pushing for a law requiring seatbelts in cars,” he said.
According to the government statistics, the leading cause of injury-related death in 2005 was drowning (1257 cases), followed by traffic accidents (975), suicides (485), falls from heights (385) and assaults (345).

The August 13-14 workshop also touched on emergency medical services, which are now provided at 72 trauma centres throughout the country. However, one senior orthopaedic surgeon at the meeting said the centres lacked teams qualified to conduct resuscitations or offer primary care.

“Now, participating surgeons will work towards developing the concepts discussed at the workshop in their own townships,” he said.

He said data from next month’s survey will not necessarily be representative of the entire country but it will help reveal trends about what kinds of injuries are increasing or decreasing in frequency, common age groups for certain injuries, injury patterns and types of accidents.