JH-IIRU Director Publishes Commentary on Injuries and Trauma in Pakistan

In Pakistan, injuries and trauma are among the top ten contributors to the burden of disease and disabilities. Other related factors, such as poverty, political instability, and natural disasters as well as the lack of legislation or enforcement of preventative measures contribute to the population’s susceptibility to injuries.

While police and hospital records provide some data on injuries, a recent commentary published in Public Health suggests that it is essential that the public health sector invest in injury prevention by creating a strong, evidence-based strategy, improving national polices, and collaborating with the private sector to promote injury prevention.

In “The challenges of injuries and trauma in Pakistan: An opportunity for concerted action,” JH-IIRU director, Adnan Hyder and Aga Khan University professor, Junaid Razzak, examine the current status of injury prevention and control in Pakistan  as well as the burden and the policy context for interventions in the country.

The commentary goes on to suggest that, because injury prevention and emergency care have been proven to be some of the most cost-effective interventions in the health sector, investing in such measures as traffic enforcement, speed control, helmets, child resistant containers and trained emergency personnel makes sense from both an economic and public health viewpoint.

Drs. Hyder and Razzak are directors of the JHU-Pakistan Fogarty International Collaborative Trauma and Injury Research Training Program (JHU-Pakistan ICIRT). The goal of JHU-Pakistan ICIRT is to build a strong network of professionals and help develop sustainable research capacity on acute care of trauma and injuries and emergency medicine in Pakistan.  For additional information on the program, click here:

http://www.jhsph.edu/faculty/research/map/PK/1227

To access the paper, click here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350612004696#