By Naa Shormei Odonkor
Kumasi, April 7, GNA – Dr Evans Ansu-Yeboah, Deputy Director of Research and Development at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, has stressed the need for effective preventive measures to help reduce head injuries resulting from accidents in the country.
He pointed out that the country’s capacity to handle head and spinal injuries was severely inadequate and there was the need to strengthen interventions to reduce the occurrence of such injuries.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Kumasi, Dr Ansu-Yeboah, said preventive interventions such as wearing of seat belts, public education on safety use of
tricycles, motorcycles and vehicles, must be enforced to prevent accidents, which could lead to severe injuries.
He noted that collaborative research conducted by KATH and Trauma Emergency and Acute care Medicine Research Network (TEAM-RN) over the past 10 years, indicated that head injuries resulting from accidents were the leading cause of injuries admitted at the hospital.
Dr Ansu-Yeboah observed that the capacity of the country to handle head and spinal injuries was nothing to write home about as there were just few neurosurgery specialists in the country.
“Our capacity base to handle head and spinal injuries is mainly based on neurological specification with very limited resource base for neurosurgical care,” he stated.
As the number of head injuries kept increasing, Dr Ansu-Yeboah stressed that the country was not resourced to address it and there was the need for the country to enforce road regulations to reduce accidents while the country built its capacity in the field of neurology.
GNA
KOM/CA