The HCM City Department of Health has instructed health divisions in districts to soon create a comprehensive system to prevent accidents and related injuries even as the city reported 45 people died in accidents last year.— Photo thanhnien.vn

HCM CITY — The HCM City Department of Health has instructed health divisions in districts to soon create a comprehensive system to prevent accidents and related injuries even as the city reported 45 people died in accidents last year.

A total of 86,885 people had faced all kinds of accidents, according to the department which heads a programme for the prevention of injuries and accidents.

It is the first time the department, which recently began using IT for this purpose, has released this figure.

Traffic accidents topped the list of accidents with 29,789 cases followed by falls with 28,802, and workplace accidents with 9,973.

Traffic accidents, drowning and choking remain the leading causes of injuries to children.

Speaking at a meeting to review the programme to prevent accidents in HCM City last week, Dr Nguyễn Hữu Hưng, the department’s deputy head, ordered all hospitals and clinics in the city to work with media to publish the exact number of accidents as a warning to the public.

The programme board should work with local authorities to enhance public training in emergency aid, he said.

It should pay particular attention to preventing accidents among old people, who are in the high-risk group for falls, he said.

The programme staff should provide guidance on how to take care of seniors in the community, he said.

They should also teach parents with young children first aid because kids are prone to choking on foods and swallowing dangerous items, he said.

In such cases, timely first aid to clear the airway could save lives, he said.

In January, a seven-year-old girl in Bình Tân District died after choking on fried fish balls. The girl was not provided with proper first aid when she choked, according to doctors at the Paediatrics Hospital 1.

The programme on prevention of accidents is part of a national community plan for prevention of accidents, which educates people in preventive methods, reports accidents, and is developing a prevention network. 

The plan envisages making Việt Nam “a safe destination” by 2020. — VNS