Trauma care and management facilities should be decentralised, and medical colleges should be equipped at the district level, so that head injury victims get help within the first hour, Nimhans Director Dr Pratima Murthy said. She was speaking at the World Head Injury Awareness Day observations at Nimhans on Monday.
According to experts at Nimhans, road crashes contribute to 50-80 per cent of all head injuries in India while the rest is contributed by falls (10-25 per cent), violence (20 per cent), and sports.
Of road crash victims, 30-70 per cent sustain head injuries due to India’s large two-wheeler population and non-compliance with traffic rules. In 2021, nearly 1.5 lakh people reportedly died due to road crashes in India, of whom 34,647 were from Karnataka and around 654 from Bengaluru.
Besides, the number of people with brain injury who need hospitalisation is estimated to be nearly 30 times the number of deaths. Survivors often have physical, cognitive, emotional, behavioural and social limitations, which severely impact their life and also have economic consequences. Head injuries range from mild concussions to severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Nearly 25-30 per cent of TBI patients experience long-term disabilities.
Dr M A Saleem, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said that youngsters should follow safety measures when driving on the roads.
With WHO’s commitment to reduce 50 per cent of deaths from road crashes, India would have to reduce risk factors and building good care systems, participants at the event said.
Nimhans observed the day under the theme ‘Safer You & Safer Nation, Your Well-Being on the Road’. Events including exhibitions, video competitions and quizzes were held, and TBI survivors shared their experiences on the occasion.
Published 20 March 2023, 16:19 IST