By
Rashid Mbugri, GNA,
Tamale, Jan. 10, GNA
– Dr Dominic Konadu-Yeboah, the Head of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Komfo Anokye
Teaching Hospital (KATH), says Ghana has been losing about US$230 million
annually through trauma cases, that often result in disability and deaths.
A report of the
World Health Organization (WHO), shows that, globally, trauma kills more people
than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
He said this could
be attributed to the increasing number of accidents and injuries resulting from
road, occupational and domestic accidents, especially among the productive
youth ages between 15 years and 49 years, invariably affecting economic growth
and development.
Dr Konadu-Yeboah was
speaking to the Ghana News Agency, on the sidelines of a three-day workshop to
train journalists from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions, on how
to report on Trauma and Orthopedic cases and to create public awareness on
paediatric trauma and fractures.
The programme was
organized by the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons in collaboration with
AO Alliance, a not-for-profit non-governmental organization, dedicated to
improving care for the injured in low-income and middle income countries.
It was also meant to
help achieve the overall goal of the AO Alliances project dubbed:”Paediatric
Fracture Solutions of Ghana Project” which focuses on reducing disability,
morbidity and mortality from paediatric trauma through prevention and
education.
Dr Konadu-Yeboah
explained that most trauma occur as a result of injury to living tissues caused
by sudden physical violence from an external source.
He said research had
revealed that “globally in 2010, about five million people died out of injury
with most of this occurring in low and middle income countries, including
Ghana”.
He added that road
traffic trauma accounted for about 60 per cent of all accidents in the country,
adding that, the most common cause of death after trauma among patients were
injury to the brain and the spinal cord, excessive bleeding, delays in getting
patients to hospital among others.
The practice, among
many in the country with fractures is to resort to care from traditional
healers, and that often result in complications.
They would finally
end up in the hospital with worsened situation – dead limbs that would have to
be amputated to save their lives.
Dr Konadu-Yeboah,
therefore, advised members of the public to rush trauma and the injured to the
hospital to help them get early, safe and appropriate treatment.
He said through the
efforts of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons and with support from
the Ministry of Health, there would soon be a nationwide programme to provide
basic training and education to traditional bone setters on how to safely
handle fractures as well as build their capacities to recognize injuries that
they ought to refer to the hospital for appropriate treatment.
Dr Francis
Oddei-Ansong, a Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Tema General Hospital,
underlined the need to properly handle trauma and injured persons.
It was important to
call for an ambulance to transport such persons to the hospital.
He urged journalists
to do more to aid efforts at preventing road traffic accidents to minimize the
impact on the economy.
GNA