Road Traffic Accidents are causing a huge economic and financial burden to hospitals and the community.
Data from the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital’s Orthopedic Surgery Department show that 900 patients get admitted in the orthopedic ward in a year, 747 (83 percent) of them being due to road traffic accidents and only 17 percent being due to other causes.
According to the data, 65 percent of the patients admitted do not have health insurance which poses a huge burden to communities. The financial burden also causes delays in surgical management and an economic burden to the hospital as it sometimes has to waive bills.
Dr. Benard Odhiambo is an Orthopedic Surgeon at the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital (CGTRH). He says most patients present long bone fractures with femur fractures being 495 (55%) of the total cases, open tibia fibular fractures being 297 (33%), and other fractures at 108(12%).
70 percent of the accidents are caused by tuk-tuks and bodabodas, 18 percent are pedestrians, and eight percent are motor vehicles.
Currently, the hospital has 36 patients admitted in the orthopedic ward. 26 are due to road crashes and the rest are due to pathological fractures, falls from heights, pediatric fractures while playing, workplace-related, etc.
