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Dubai mulls strategy to check child injuries

The Dubai Injury Prevention Strategy, expected to be in place by the mid of next month, will include a unified reporting and surveillance system that aims at reducing the significant personal, social and economic burden of injury to the residents of Dubai and to its health system, said officials.

Though optimal data is scarce, local studies suggest that the most common injuries among children in the UAE are related to road accidents, drowning, burns and falls. Regionally, the average rate of injuries here is 19 percent higher than the average world rate.

The strategy will focus on children in general and school children in particular, said Dr Ali Marzooqi, Director of Public Health and Safety, Health Policy and Strategy Sector at the authority.

Statistics presented by the health authority at this year’s Arab Children Health Congress showed that the prevalence rate of injuries at private schools in Dubai was almost 90 percent (149,288 injuries) in 2009 with 10 per cent being severe cases where children are hospitalised. More injuries were recorded among boys under the age of 10.

The statistics also showed that more than 45 percent of injuries in schools were caused due to inadequate supervision.“We are also following the Al Ain study and quantifying it for Dubai,” said Dr Marzooqi while explaining another aspect of the strategy.

The study published in 2008 by the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the UAE University in Al Ain revealed that injuries (intentional and unintentional) were mainly related to traffic accidents, drowning and burns, and caused 746 deaths among children aged 0-14 years in the UAE during 2000-2006.

“This is an incredibly important step especially since there are only a few government endorsed programmes,” said Dr Michal Grivna, Assistant Professor who conducted the study.

Under the initial phase, being implemented in collaboration with Unicef-Gulf Area Office, 100 school children from different schools aged 12-15 will lead a peer injury prevention programme and impart the training to others. “The selection criterion for schools has been built to address the cultural diversity in the schooling pattern in Dubai,” said Dr Marzooqi.

For phase one, five schools from the following categories will be selected – government, private national schools, private international and specialised schools for children with special needs.

According to Dr Ziad Al Najjar, Public Health Specialist, Public Health and Safety Department at the authority, the upstream approach will play a central role. “We are keeping in mind cross-jurisdictional and cross-sartorial approach to tackle the issue of accidents and falls that affect children and adolescents and will play a central role in prevention, advocacy and research, and work with other governmental institutions in this field,” he said.

The second phase of the strategy will include research, education and communication (IEC) materials, capacity building and DHA staff training.

“Some of the challenges facing Arab children could prevent them from living a healthy life, realising their full potential,” said Lara Hussein, Officer in Charge of Unicef-Gulf Area Office and Chief, Child Protection.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com

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