The National Injury Prevention Week culminated on Saturday with the participation of over 500 wheelchair users in the Wheelchair Sports and Cultural Program, and health checkup camp at the National Centre for Disease Control here.
This event, organized under the aegis of the Directorate General of Health Services of the Union health ministry, was held to mark the Spinal Cord Injury Day, which is held every year on the first Saturday of September.
Director General of Health Services, Prof Atul Goel, underscored the significance of injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Official coordinator for Injury Prevention Week, Dr Harvinder Singh Chhabra, said, “Prevention is the key to spinal cord health since it’s cells, as in the case of brain, does not regrow and any damage has a debilitating effect.”
Chhabra is also the chief of the Spine and Rehabilitation Centre at Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute, President of the Spinal Cord Society and Chairman of the Spine Wellness & Care Foundation, further said, “Our ongoing efforts in prevention, early intervention, and comprehensive management including rehabilitation are vital to improving the quality of life for those affected.”
The programme highlighted the importance of spinal cord injury awareness and the need for comprehensive care and rehabilitation. According to a report of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, as many as 16,397 persons lost their lives in road accidents in 2021 by not wearing seat belts, including 8,438 drivers and 7,959 passengers.
