The country still has a lack ofeducation and communication campaigns designed to help raise adults’knowledge on child injury prevention, said officials involved in thefield.
Nguyen Trong An, deputy director of theDepartment of Children Protection and Care under the Ministry ofLabour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), said that the homewas supposed to be the place where children are best protected, but 80to 90 percent of child injures occur there.
“Many parents lack knowledge in dealing with child injuries, making the situation even worse,” he said.
For example, it is popular among parents to use toothpaste, chicken eggs or boa’s fat on burns to ease the pain, An said.
But in actual fact, all these substances might make the burns worse, he said.
Nguyen Tuyet Lan, a doctor at Hospital E in Hanoi , said that she hadwitnessed many parents using incorrect methods when applying first aidto their injured children.
“When children bleed, many parents blow on the injury without knowingthat it increases the possibility of infection,” Lan said.
A handbook on preventing child injuries for parents was delivered to aselection of rural homes as part of a MoLISA project. However, thecontent of the handbook was general while some areas need specificknowledge.
Poor children are at a higher risk of injury than more privilegedchildren while education and communication campaigns on child injuriesremain lacking.
He suggested publishing material on child injury prevention to deliverto parents and broadcasting the same content on radio programmes forrural communes.
In 2008, there were more than 46,000 child injury cases, of which 7,300 died.
There is a need to build a national target programme on accidentalinjury prevention, said Tran Ngoc Lan, deputy director of theDepartment of Preventive Health Care and Environment.
To deal with accidental injuries, it requires the cooperation of allsectors and all levels from central to grassroots, she said.
If such a programme is started, it will be easier to mobilise supportfrom international organisations and the flow of information will beexact and synchronised, Lan said./.
Nguyen Trong An, deputy director of theDepartment of Children Protection and Care under the Ministry ofLabour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), said that the homewas supposed to be the place where children are best protected, but 80to 90 percent of child injures occur there.
“Many parents lack knowledge in dealing with child injuries, making the situation even worse,” he said.
For example, it is popular among parents to use toothpaste, chicken eggs or boa’s fat on burns to ease the pain, An said.
But in actual fact, all these substances might make the burns worse, he said.
Nguyen Tuyet Lan, a doctor at Hospital E in Hanoi , said that she hadwitnessed many parents using incorrect methods when applying first aidto their injured children.
“When children bleed, many parents blow on the injury without knowingthat it increases the possibility of infection,” Lan said.
A handbook on preventing child injuries for parents was delivered to aselection of rural homes as part of a MoLISA project. However, thecontent of the handbook was general while some areas need specificknowledge.
Poor children are at a higher risk of injury than more privilegedchildren while education and communication campaigns on child injuriesremain lacking.
He suggested publishing material on child injury prevention to deliverto parents and broadcasting the same content on radio programmes forrural communes.
In 2008, there were more than 46,000 child injury cases, of which 7,300 died.
There is a need to build a national target programme on accidentalinjury prevention, said Tran Ngoc Lan, deputy director of theDepartment of Preventive Health Care and Environment.
To deal with accidental injuries, it requires the cooperation of allsectors and all levels from central to grassroots, she said.
If such a programme is started, it will be easier to mobilise supportfrom international organisations and the flow of information will beexact and synchronised, Lan said./.
