Rs554-crore national trauma care policy awaits cabinet approval
J.P. Nadda says the trauma care policy for establishing 30 new trauma care facilities has been approved by the expenditure finance committee, now waits cabinet nod
New Delhi: In a bid to minimise death and disability due to road injuries, the union health ministry proposes to set up a national programme for trauma care with an outlay of Rs554.41 crore.
The scheme for establishing 30 new trauma care facilities has been approved by the expenditure finance committee (EFC) and placed before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for approval, Union health minister J.P. Nadda said on Monday.
“The ‘capacity building for developing Trauma Care Facilities in government hospitals on National Highways’ has been approved for development of 85 new trauma care facilities,” Nadda said at the transport ministers’ forum on road safety organised by the International Road Federation (IRF) in New Delhi.
“During the 12th Five Year Plan, 85 medical colleges and district hospitals have been approved. Out of the 116 trauma care facilities funded during the 11th Five Year Plan, 100 are reported to be functional by the States,” he said.
Road traffic crashes are among the major causes of disability, morbidity and mortality in India. According to the Union health ministry, India has just 1% of total vehicles in the world but accounts for 6% of the total road accidents.
“There is a need of significant and rapid decline in road injuries and it requires planning at all levels, capacity creation, involvement of all sectors and good data,” said Nadda.
Given the importance of having a National Trauma Care Policy for road accident victims, the Union health ministry is exploring methods such as air ambulances, providing relief in remote areas and well- equipped mobile clinics, etc.
“It is important to create an enhanced capacity and infuse the knowledge of road safety related actions in public bystanders, road side facilities such as dhabas and amongst commercial truck drivers, who are most often the first on the accident sites and are first responders,” Nadda said.
Under the plan, a National Injury Surveillance, Trauma Registry and Capacity Building Centre have been established at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital. Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) and National Emergency Life Support (NELS) training for doctors and Basic Life Support (BLS) training for nurses is also being organized at the Dr. RML Hospital in New Delhi.
In India, accidental injury is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. In India, 4 50,898 road accidents caused 141,526 deaths during 2014. As per the World Road Statistics, 2010, by 2020 road accidents will be major killers in India, accounting for 546,000 deaths and 15314,000 disability adjusted life years lost. (Life years is a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death.
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First Published:14 Nov 2017, 01:18 AM IST
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