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WHO, Bone and Joint Decade and EFORT build partnership for improved trauma care
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VIENNA — More than 5 million of people die every year as a result of a trauma-related injury. Two million would survive the trauma, if the basic capabilities of their care were improved.
The World Health Organization (WHO) accepted in 2008 to host a position at their headquarters in Geneva, after the approval by the World Health Assembly in 2007 (193 Ministers of Health of all country members). This was the Resolution 60.22, related to the improvement of trauma and emergency care, worldwide.
After some combined publications with the Bone and Joint Decade (BJD), the WHO, being a strong and serious scientific and evidence-based organization restricted by rules, understood the scope of the musculoskeletal and trauma impact on people and on the health care systems, in suffering and in costs, and then decided with BJD to select a representative there.
Because universal health care access is a human right, the Violence, Injury and Disability Department of WHO, which looks to study, research, collect data, promote prevention and develop campaigns that focus on the most frequent injuries – those resulting from road traffic, labor, sports and others, and now is asking for all these chain members collaboration to improve globally, the infrastructure to work for a greater attention to trauma care.
After information collected by all continents WHO offices, and knowing the size of the burden of disease, BJD and WHO made the analysis and found the similarity of the problems, needs and goals for solutions and, with maturity saw that the macro mandatory short- and medium-term solutions are to plan strategies together to influence decision makers to improve trauma care conditions as prevention, research, compensation, low cost treatments and care.
Dr. Marcos Musafir, who served as the 40th President of the Brazilian Orthopedic Association in 2007, was selected to take this position at WHO and work for the musculoskeletal and trauma project.
Successful events such as the AIDS projects set the stage to build the visibility, recognition and credibility of the musculoskeletal and trauma project.
“My work at WHO is to achieve the goals of all trauma and orthopaedic associations that in summary is to make trauma one of the top priorities in the health care systems worldwide, what means budget trauma in public and private sectors to improve prevention, research, salaries and universal good care,” Musafir said.
“For this, the global alliance for a better trauma care is being created, with multidisciplinary associations, with United Nations, with the Inter-Parliamentary Union and WHO which all urge your collaboration,” EFORT President Prof. Dr. Karl-Göran Thorngren emphasized.
Thorngren also said he wishes that “you engage your national associations, as made by EFORT, SLAOT, SICOT, AAOS, SBOT and others. The project leaders from EFORT will be Prof. Dr. Pierre Hoffmeyer and Prof. Dr. Norbert Haas. We will meet to discuss our strategic plan of priorities, key messages and actions during the WHO Global Forum for Trauma Care from 28-29 October in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which is the first time such an initiative has been taken in the 61-year history of WHO.”
This WHO Forum will be hosted by the Ministry of Health of Brazil and the Government of Rio de Janeiro, and at the end will produce a Book of Recommendations to influence the decision makers to improve laws that will change the trauma care in all countries,” Thorngren said.
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Presented at the 10th EFORT Congress. Presidential breakfast. 3 June 2009.