TCIF raises awareness for trauma victims - The Nation Newspaper

Kelvin Osa Okunbor

Stakeholders in Nigeria’s health, accident and emergency response industries have demanded increased government and private sector investments in facilities that will ease the plight of trauma victims.

The call was made in Lagos at the 2019 trauma conference organised by Trauma Care International Foundation (TCIF) where participants expressed the worry over the plight of victims, the majority lacking access to requisite facilities for speedy treatment and help from professionals.

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who spoke at the event, lamented the stressed-induced trauma that thousands of residents face daily in the state due to infrastructural gaps , assuring that efforts were made to mitigate the impact on citizens.

Abayomi, also decried the activities of irresponsible commercial motorcyclists saying they had become a source of trauma to many.

Trauma Care International Foundation said the conference was organized to provide a platform for debate and stimulation of inter-disciplinary discussions in the field of trauma care and emergency response management.

Some of the topics discussed at the conference include: Transforming healthcare in Nigeria through trauma network, securing healthcare financing for trauma and emergency services, National Health Act and its provision for emergency care, and improvement in pre-hospital emergency care systems.

Participants were drawn from federal and states ministry of health, national assembly, hospitals, Federal Road Safety Corps, first responders to trauma and accidents, media, insurance and NGOs.

The confence had become necessary given that in recent years, the country has witnessed an increase in the number of suicides occasioned by depression. There are also several cases of persons traumatized owing to the loss of family members or friends, accident victims from road, water, and air mishaps, just as fire disasters, floods, homelessness, failed marriages, truncated relationships, collapsed businesses, loss of jobs have wrecked emotional havoc on thousands of Nigerians.