Aimed at creating awareness about brain injuries and road accidents, the World Head Injury Day was observed today at Sher-e-Kashmri Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) by surgical emergency wing and department of neurosurgery of the institute.
In connection with the day, various activities were carried out at the institute. A poster show to illustrate the causes and types of head injuries was organized. Dr Abdul Rashid Bhat, Professor of neurosurgery and head of surgical emergency wing said that according to the latest data, road traffic accidents cause injury to about 50 million of which 1.2 million people die annually.
Prof Bhat stressed on prevention and better management of traffic and communication and said this can be achieved by framing long and short term policies and rules.
He said if head injury awareness due to traffic accidents is included in school academic curriculum it will go in a long way in decreasing such incidents.
Director SKIMS and Dr Omar Javed Shah said that SKIMS receives an average of 50 road traffic accident victims per day in peak summers, most having head injuries. While 30-40 of these are discharged after short treatments, 10 are admitted for surgical and conservative treatment and the most critical ones remain on life support system. “These injuries have a huge implication for families and on societies, both economically and psychologically,” he said.