‘Over 10,000 deaths per year due to accidents in SL’

The Health Minister said that it is a serious matter of concern that around 10,000 to 12,000 deaths per year are due to accidents, with one million receiving inpatient treatment. He further said that nearly 35 deaths per day are due to accidents in this country.

The International Conference on Accident Prevention – 2023 (ICIPSL 23) was held yesterday (20) under the patronage of Health Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, at Battaramulla Water’s Edge.

The Health Minister said that the first international conference on accident prevention, organized by the Health Ministry’s Non-Communicable Disease Division, was a very timely and important subject for the Sri Lankan people.

He said that many researchers and experts in this field who are participating in this conference have come here to share their knowledge with the Sri Lankan medical community, and this will enable the country’s health indicators to be taken to a higher level.

He further stated that strengthening the accident prevention sector in this country as well as strengthening the treatment methods created in the health system is a multi-faceted approach that we should go ahead with.

An international conference on accident prevention has been identified as a major activity by the National Centre for Accident Prevention and Management of the Health Ministry’s Non Communicable Diseases Unit. It has also been identified as a key action area of the multi-sectoral strategic action plan on accident prevention and management from 2021 to 2025.

Among the objectives expected to be achieved by this international conference is to provide evidence of good practices that can be applied in the planning and development of disaster prevention activities, to promote the recognition of disaster prevention as a priority area on the economic and political agenda, and to strengthen intersectoral coordination and cooperation in disaster prevention.

It can be pointed out things like creating an environment for doing and encouraging, sharing knowledge, building cooperation and relationships, and developing a safety culture by improving awareness among the general public.

Here, many people including local and foreign academics, researchers, community leaders, policymakers, professionals, and many other topics such as accident and climate change, accident and economy, community participation in accident prevention, social marketing and public-private partnership, road safety, drowning safety, occupational safety, accident prevention are discussed at length under the topics of poisoning prevention, animal safety, child safety, elderly safety, post trauma care and accident data management.

Accidents are the main cause of hospitalization in Sri Lanka in the last few decades. Every year over a million victims are treated as inpatients in public hospitals. Millions more are treated as outpatients by other non-Western medical professionals in the private sector, and many more self-medicate at home without seeking medical advice.

The non-communicable disease unit points out that one out of every five or six patients admitted to government hospitals for inpatient treatment are admitted for accidents. It is estimated that 10,000-12,000 people die due to accidents in this country every year.

That is about 35 people per day. Accordingly, four people die every three hours due to accidents.

Furthermore, accidents are the main health problem in the economically productive age group of 15-44 years, and accidents are the leading cause of death in that age group.

About 3,000 people die annually from traffic accidents alone, about 2,000 people die from suffocation including strangulation, and another 1,000 and 1,500 deaths from drowning and falls respectively. About 1,200 people die from various types of poisoning, and hundreds more die from electrocution, burns, and animal attacks.

Additional Secretary (Medical Services) of the Ministry of Health Dr. Sunil De Alwis, Director of Communicable Diseases Unit Dr. Samiddi Samarakon, Deputy Director Dr. Chamipika Wickramasinghe and Senior Professor Anantaraman Venkataraman, Emergency Department of Singapore General Hospital were present.

A group of officials representing local and foreign health departments including Vijaya Rao from Sinhealth International Cooperation Office in Singapore and Dr. Shiromi Maduvage representing the Sri Lanka Community Medical College were present.

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