Due to lack of specialised trauma facility in the country, number of deaths caused by trauma are significant.
KARACHI: Trauma is the second leading cause of death and disability worldwide between the age of 15-45 years. During my one year of house job training, I came to realise that a massive number of trauma cases come to hospitals and that a vast majority are linked to traffic accidents. To my amazement, I also found that Pakistan does not have a single specialised trauma centre, while other developing countries have these vital facilities.
Due to a lack of a specialised trauma facility in the country, especially in the major cities of Pakistan, the number of deaths caused by trauma is significant. To make matters worse, Pakistan is not equipped with that many trauma specialists. Pakistan has general surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, etc., but we do not have proper vascular surgeons and the reason is that there is no structured training at the postgraduate level that will produce such surgeons.
Almost on a daily basis, we see victims who have suffered trauma in traffic accidents come to us. In almost all such instances, a vascular intervention is required and sadly, since there are no vascular general, orthopaedic surgeons have to fill in. I will like to humbly request the prime minister and the federal health minister to look into this matter and take measures to set up specialised trauma centres, at least in the major cities. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan could be tasked with an initiative in this regard in terms of providing postgraduate training programmes in vascular surgery.
Dr Muhammad Tahir
Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre
Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th, 2014.
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