One out of every five people who suffer from physical trauma—a form of trauma caused by physical injuries to the body—ends up dying, according to the Ministry of Health.

This was revealed on Wednesday at the first ever symposium on physical trauma and emergency medicine held in Kigali.

The symposium aimed to lay out a plan on how to reduce cases of physical trauma.

Physical trauma is a serious injury to the body. It comprises two types of trauma including blunt force trauma—when an object or force strikes the body, often causing concussions, deep cuts, or broken bones.

It also involves penetrating trauma, when an object pierces the skin or body, usually creating an open wound.

Irene Baragahirwa, in charge of Physical Trauma and Disability unit at Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), said physical traumas account for 71 per cent of all cases of trauma the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali receives and that they are higher in other hospitals.

"We want to create a trauma registry system to compile all statistics related to injuries to be able to have a real image of this problem,” she said.

Based on statistics from Emergency Medical Services Division at the Ministry of Health, physical trauma cases constitute 60 per cent of all emergency cases received daily by hospitals in Rwanda.

Dr Parfait Uwaliraye, the Director General in Charge of Planning at Ministry of Health, said that recent data shows that in Rwanda injuries are emerging health problems in clinical consultations.

In partnership with development agencies, the Ministry has moved to introduce interventions throughout four levels of the national health care service delivery system, he said.

"Rwanda health care system is flexible enough for more potential stakeholders to be involved. There is still a need of a strong network in terms of injury prevention and control to save more lives of our citizens,” he said.

He added that government has committed to provide resources linked to the successful implementation of injury prevention and control program in Rwanda

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