IIRU at the Bone and Joint Decade

A global network conference of bone and joint decade was held on Oct 22-24 in Washington DC. The meeting, which is hosted by USBJD, highlighted the significance of musculoskeletal conditions and raised the awareness to advanced prevention and treatment. Dr. David Huang was present as the representative of International Injury Research Unit. Road traffic injury is the central focus of the trauma and injury strategic planning specialty group. In the panel discussion, Dr. Bruce Browner (Bone and joint decade) indicated the increasing burden of road traffic injuries in low- and middle-income countries where 90% of deaths due to RTIs occurred. Oman’s UN Permanent Ambassador Fuad Al-Hinai, who brought road safety into the fore of United Nations, said Member States had unanimously emphasized that road traffic injuries posted a global health crisis requiring “an urgent national and international action.” Ms. Nancy-Carter Foster, speaking for the U.S State Department called for the effort and international collaboration on road safety. She highlighted “Losses due to road traffic injuries are preventable- we should not take them for granted, and we should not accept road crashes and their costs in human lives as the price we pay for mobility or for economic growth and development.”

The Bone and Joint Decade trauma and injury strategic planning specialty group selected road traffic crashes as one of the priority issues to improve in trauma care and treatment capabilities through global collaborative programs. Lack of funding in WHO program, poor infrastructure, manpower shortages and insufficient emergency services in most LMICs are the major barriers to lessen the burden of RTIs. To maximize the efforts, BJD encouraged more surgeons involved at WHO level, UN and other international organizations so that appropriate attention is given to the trauma care of RTI victims. For more information, please visit BJD.