An investigative unit has been established by the Directorate of Non-Communicable Disease (NDC) of the Ministry of Health, in order to probe the recent traffic accidents that have taken place in the island.
Speaking in this regard, Consultant Community Physician Dr. Samith Siritunga pointed out that nearly 1 million people receive in-patient care in Sri Lanka’s pubic hospitals due to accidents.
“This is not a problem only in Sri Lanka but also across the world. If we talk about Sri Lanka, nearly 3 – 4 million injuries that require medical attention are caused by accidents every year”, he emphasised.
Moreover, Dr. Siritunga also noted that when considering the number of deaths caused by accidents, nearly 10,000 - 12,000 deaths are being reported per year, with an average of nearly 32 – 35 deaths being reported per day.
Expressing his concerns in this regard, Dr. Siritunga explained that as the Directorate of NDC, they have decided to investigate each of these accidents, in order to determine a cause.
