Pakistan: Around 500 people in Karachi suffer injuries in traffic accidents daily

Karachi [Islamabad], November 5 (ANI): Around 500 people, mostly motorcyclists, suffer injuries in road traffic accidents in Karachi on a daily basis and are brought to emergency units of different hospitals for treatment, a health conference in the city was informed on Friday, Dawn reported.
Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper.
A senior orthopaedic surgeon in Pakistan said that a significant number of the victims face permanent disabilities, which change their lives forever.
Hundreds of trauma surgeons, medical specialists and students are attending the two-day 36th International Pak Orthocon 2023 of the Pakistan Orthopaedic Association (POA) which is being organised by the Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women (PUMHSW), Nawabshah, in Karachi, as per Dawn.
During the event, discussions were held on bones, injuries, trauma, infections, joint replacements, bone health issues in women, children and the elderly, osteoporosis and advancements in the field of orthopaedics.
Hundreds of research papers and studies were being presented by national and international speakers, the organisers said.
The experts said that millions of rupees were spent daily on the treatment of multiple trauma injury victims in the city, which could be prevented through an organised way of life and an integrated healthcare system.
Around 70 per cent of the victims of trauma injuries taken to hospitals in the city were young motorcyclists.
The victims suffered from polytrauma injuries and required expensive treatment, surgeries, medical implants and medications on a regular basis, which would be a life-changing experience for them, the experts said.
As per the World Health Organisation, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years, while approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes.
WHO fact sheet on road traffic trauma injuries said that more than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Professor Badruddin Sahito said that every day around 500 Karachiites suffer injuries in road traffic accidents.
He said that trauma injuries were "not considered diseases" and because of that, no measures were taken to prevent people from getting injured on roads in Pakistan.
He said billions of rupees could be saved by preventing road accidents as well and youngsters could be saved from becoming disabled for the rest of their lives by following traffic rules strictly, as per Dawn.
"We need to ensure that traffic rules are followed on the roads. Pakistani motorcyclists are the most reckless drivers as they don't have licences and training, which could save their own lives. Getting killed or becoming physically disabled is also a cause of trauma for families of young people," Sahito added. (ANI)