Injury Surveillance At An Intermediate State Hospital In Windhoek

ABSTRACT

Injuries, whether intentional or unintentional is a major public health problem, killing million of people of all ages and sexes all over the world and leaving many more million disabled. Unintentional injuries occur as a result of human error, for example, road traffic accidents/road crashes, burns and drowning especially of children while intentional injuries are injuries sustained due to violent behaviours towards oneself, for instance, committing suicide or against other people like stabbing, gunshots to mention but a few. People of all economic groups suffer fatal injuries, but deaths rates due to injuries tend to be high in the lower-income groups due to their inabilities to afford better quality medical care. According to Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS)’ Health Information System, there is increase in injuries every year. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the demographic profile of patients admitted with injuries in Katutura State Hospital during 2006 as well as the type and quality of h interventions these patients received. A quantitative, exploratory and descriptive research was conducted to provide a baseline information with regards to the topic as it is relatively new in Namibia. The prominent findings were that, the intermediate hospital in this study deals with non fatal injuries, especially stab wounds. The majorities of the victims are males between the ages of 16-35 yrs, are mostly residents of Katutura location and its’ suburbs. These vii incidents mostly take place at night and during the weekends, particularly at the end of each month. Recommendations were formulated based on the findings with specifically emphasis on the prevention of injuries through legal and municipal intervention and promotion of risk behavioral change.