Tamale Teaching Hospital calls for urgent actions to address high rates of head injuries in Northern Region

The Tamale Teaching Hospital has called for urgent measures to reduce the rate of head injuries recorded in the Northern Region as a result of motor traffic accidents.

The hospital says the rising spate of head injuries is significantly reducing the quality of life of residents, hence the need for deliberate measures to be put in place to curtail the situation.

According to the hospital, more than 80 percent of cases reported at the Accident and Emergency Unit are head injuries sustained through road traffic accidents.

Dr Malcom Mambuoraa Dery of the TTH’s Neurosurgery Unit disclosed this to the media on Saturday at a health walk organized by the hospital as part of activities to mark the 60th-anniversary celebration of TTH.

He said the hospital recorded an average of 10 head injury cases daily, a number he noted was significantly high.

“Typically, from 6am to 6pm, the number of head injury patients we get averagely can be 10. That’s a lot of cases and as I’ve mentioned sometimes the injuries are so severe that some patients unfortunately pass on and some also even if they survive, the quality of life reduces significantly and they become a huge burden onto the family, unto society and unto the country and we have to pump in more money to cater for these individuals,” Dr Malcom Mambuoraa Dery said.

He appealed to road users to be careful when using the road and observe road traffic rules and regulations well.

Dr Malcom Mambuoraa Dery added that, although the hospital had the facilities and personnel to handle neurological cases, it was expensive to afford, hence the need for all to take preventive measures.

“The cost of treatment is very very high because you’ll have to do everything with excellence and so our surest bet is to prevent it. We’re admonishing the society to wear a helmet and be careful when riding motorbikes. Let’s obey the traffic regulations and the MTTD when they’re directing traffic,” he said.

The Public Relations Officer of the TTH, Zuberu Aliu appealed to the public to help the hospital raise revenue to construct a new pediatric centre.

He said It was a major project the hospital wants to embark on, as part of its 50th anniversary celebration.

Zuberu said the absence of a pediatric centre was hampering the speed at which pediatric cases are handled.