National policy for emergency and trauma care on the table
The plan is to develop a national policy for triage (preliminary assessment of patients or casualties) while laying out standardised protocols for care, establishing world-class ambulance services with effective paramedics and significantly enhanc...
To be woven into Ayushman Bharat scheme to cover people at lowest levels.
NEW DELHI: India is working on developing a comprehensive emergency and trauma care system which will be woven into the Ayushman Bharat scheme to expand its outreach to people at the lowest levels and reduce cost of emergency services.
The move is aimed at providing worldclass emergency services to prevent large numbers of deaths from road accidents and providing trauma care in other emergencies, including disasters.
The plan is to develop a national policy for triage (preliminary assessment of patients or casualties) while laying out standardised protocols for care, establishing world-class ambulance services with effective paramedics and significantly enhancing the number of blood banks.
Niti Aayog is in talks with stakeholder ministries, including ministries of health and family welfare and road transport and highways, to develop a strong, holistic ambulance-emergency-trauma care system, a senior government official told ET.
“The thrust will be to substantially increase emergency and trauma care infrastructure in India and reduce the outof-pocket expenditure on health emergencies,” the official said. According to the Aayog, India witnesses a huge burden of emergency and trauma cases, which have a high proportion of the young who are often the sole bread-earners and inflicts high out-of pocket-expenditure.
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“These measures will help India achieve its target across multiple Sustainable Development Goal aims, including halving the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030 and also cover emergencies arising due to obstetrics, pediatrics, infections, NCDs and disasters,” the official added.
According to the ministry of road transport and highways, every year, around 1.5 lakh people die on roads, which translates into an average 1,130 accidents and 422 deaths every day or 47 accidents and 18 deaths every hour.
According to government data, a total 412,432 road accidents were reported in 2021, claiming 153,972 lives and causing injuries to 384,448 persons. The worst affected age group in road accidents is 18-45 years, which accounts for about 67% of total accidental deaths, it said. Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of road accidents on national highways in 2021 and the number of persons killed in road accidents was the highest in Uttar Pradesh.
