A successful model of road traffic injury surveillance in a developing country: Process and lessons learnt

Authors

Junaid Abdul Razzak, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Muhammad Shahzad Shamim, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Amber Mehmood, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Syed Ameer Hussain, Road Traffic Injury Research and Prevention Centre, Karachi, Pakistan
Mir Shabbar Ali, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan
Rashid Jooma, Aga Khan UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Department

Emergency Medicine; Neurosurgery

Abstract

Background: Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs) are one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide with 90% of global mortality concentrated in the low and middle income countries. RTI surveillance is recommended to define the burden, identify high risk groups, plan intervention and monitor their impact. Despite its stated importance in the literature, very few examples of sustained surveillance systems are reported from low income countries. This paper shares the experience of setting up an urban RTI surveillance program in the emergency departments of five major hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan.
Method: We describe the process of establishing a surveillance system including assembling a multi-institution research group, developing a data collection methodology, carrying out data collection and analysis and dissemination of information to the relevant stakeholders. In the absence of a road safety agency, the surveillance system required developing individual partnerships with industry, police, city government, media and many other stakeholders. Impact of the surveillance is demonstrated by some initiatives in the local trauma system and improvements in road design to effect hazard reduction.
Conclusion: We demonstrated that a functional RTI surveillance program can be established, and effectively managed in a developing country, despite lack of infrastructure and limitation of resources. Data utilization in the absence of well defined road safety infrastructure within the government is a challenge. More effective actions are hampered by the limited capacity in the transport and health sectors to do in-depth analysis through road safety audits and trauma registries.

Comments

Issue, and pagination are not provided by the author/publisher

Publication (Name of Journal)

BMC Public Health

Recommended Citation

Razzak, J. A., Shamim, M., Mehmood, A., Hussain, S. A., Ali, M. S., Jooma, R. (2012). A successful model of road traffic injury surveillance in a developing country: Process and lessons learnt. BMC Public Health, 12, 357.
Available at: https://ecommons.aku.edu/pakistan_fhs_mc_emerg_med/255

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.