Why India badly needs a trauma care ministry

As we head into India's annual Budget exercise, I have a suggestion for finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Even as she balances priorities and determines who gets how much out of the growing pie of tax money, can a new ministry (or department) for trauma care be considered?

- Anjuli Bhargava

Trauma is something Indians encounter on a daily basis. In its most common form, trauma is associated with road accidents but many other incidents and happenings in India lead to trauma of varying severity. Here are a few instances. The pedestrian bridge collapse in Morbi, Gujarat, that caused 141 deaths and injuries to over 180 called for trauma care, as did the 200 consequential railway accidents reported across 17 railway zones in India. Over the last five years, these accidents led to the deaths of 350 people and caused injuries to close to 1,000 people.

Perhaps more than any other occurrence, rape, acid attack and domestic violence victims across India require consistent and intense trauma care. In a number of these cases, the mental trauma far exceeds the physical trauma but mental support in India remains virtually absent. Trauma is very much a part of the fabric of tourist destinations in India where those rescued from drownings on the beach or during adventure tourism-related accidents need urgent care.

The data on trauma-related deaths speaks for itself. Road accidents in India account for 200,000 deaths a year, and according to a 2020 report, approximately 45% of such registered deaths occurred without any medical attention. Add to these the fatalities that occur on account of other types of accidents (rail, fire, electrocutions, bridge collapses) and the numbers shoot up to almost 400,000 trauma deaths a year.