Accidents, drowning major causes of children's deaths

TRANSPORT accidents and drowning have consistently been among the top seven causes of death of Bruneian children from 2006 till 2010.

Disclosing this in her speech during the Child Safety Workshop by the Ministry of Health (MoH), Dr Hjh Norlila Dato Paduka Hj Abd Jalil, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Professional and Technical) at MoH, identified drowning as the third and fourth leading cause of death among Bruneians under 19 and five years of age respectively, in 2008.

"In fact, between 2006 and 2010, there were 23 deaths of children due to drowning," she said.

On the other hand, transport accidents claimed the lives of 25 children in the same age category making it hover between the fourth and sixth leading cause of child deaths during the same time period, she said.

She said that although the number of losses seem small, it has caused great distress among the affected families.

"Other leading causes of death among children below the age of 19 are congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities, certain conditions originating in the perinatal period, cancer (malignant neoplasms) and heart diseases (including acute rheumatic fever)," she said.

However, prevention of these conditions may be more difficult to undertake, she said..

"It is clear therefore that, if we are to further reduce our mortality significantly, it will need to be through the reduction of deaths due to injuries, poisoning and external causes, in particular, transport accidents and drowning."

She explained that although the numbers look small, it affects the nation's small population significantly when expressed in terms of percentages.

"We should be aiming towards zero deaths due to these preventable causes," she said.

In addition, she said, falls are the top causes of children requiring hospital admissions and outpatient consultations followed by fractures.

"We also need to be aware that although some children may survive their injuries, they may be left with serious disfigurement and disabilities," she said.

The country, she explained, is proud to have high quality paediatric services available in hospitals such as the state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit, cardiology and haemato-oncology services.

The nation's maternal, perinatal and infant mortality rates are indicators comparable to those of developed nations, she added.

"Therefore, it would be tragic if we were to find all these efforts are negated by the occurrence of injuries among our children which can result in disfigurement, disability, unnecessary pain or even death," she said, adding that such situations leave a burden on the family.

The Brunei Times