Profiling the Transportation Child Health Research WorkshopRTI’s (Road Traffic Accidents) are recognized as a leading killer in Qatar. The World Health Organization (WHO) published a Global Status Report in 2007 and claimed that 50 percent of people in Qatar do not wear a seatbelt and even more worrying that there are no national laws in place enforcing the use of child restraints in vehicles. In 2007, there were over 10,000 recorded RTIs, of which 199 were fatal and horribly a quarter of this number were children.
The Transportation Child Health Research Workshop due to be held on 5 November, led by Hamad Medical Organization, aims to highlight how the numbers of fatal road traffic accidents, among other transport dangers for children, can be reduced via research between multiple leading research organizations in Qatar. The objectives of this workshop are to:
- Develop a research agenda for Qatar related to minimizing child traffic injuries
- Discuss knowledge translation challenges and how best to implement a research agenda in this area
- Build opportunity for collaboration and understanding of research expertise
- Develop a research strategy in two key areas which promote transportation health for children and youth:
- Community design and active transportation
- Motor vehicle-related injuries and fatalities
Above: The Transportation Child Health Research Committee
‘Children First’ met with three HMC consultant physicians from the Transportation Child Health Research Steering Committee to find out more about the upcoming awareness workshop that will be held on 5 November 2013. Dr. Rafael Consunji is an acute and critical care surgeon and Injury Prevention Director of the Trauma Surgery Section at HMC. He described the aims and goals of the workshop are to ‘create an inventory of research and researchers in the field of transport safety for children in Qatar, and to create real networks and connections between institutes that will result in further communicative research regarding road safety in Qatar.’ It is hoped that the workshop will not only highlight research that has already been carried out by multiple organizations in Qatar, but more importantly notify the research gaps that can be filled in future.
The workshop aims to encourage high quality research in the region in the hope to campaign for better road safety precautions for children. Dr. Khalid Al Saadi is a Pediatric Consultant at the Pediatric Emergency Center in Al Sadd. He explains, "The workshop will build capacity for research at HMC as well as producing awareness campaigns that will educate Qatar’s public of the importance of safety precautions whilst in a vehicle and promote engagement in explaining the high level of risks attached to failing to provide safety precautions. There is a notable resistance in Qatar towards the utilization of safety measures such as appropriate use of car seats and seatbelts for children. We are determined to change that attitude via research and furthermore the production of educational campaigns. The work shop is a stepping stone in the journey of transport safety transformation."
Dr. Akhlaque Bhat is a Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon and a member of the HMC/SickKids Child Health Research Task Force. He explained that there will be collaboration at the event between numerous research, healthcare and road safety organizations such as Supreme Council of Health, the Ministry of Interior, the Supreme Council of Education, the Ministry of Urban Planning and Ashghal. "The notion that we can bring together knowledge and facilities from each organization in order to reach the same goal – protecting the children of Qatar – is vital for future research capabilities." Dr. Bhat and Dr. Consunji explained that this year’s Transportation Child Health Research Workshop has stemmed from the National Strategy for Child Health Research Workshop back in December 2011, and the workshop is not only parallel but completely collinear with the goals set by the Qatar National Vision 2030.
The program will include a keynote address from Dr. Andrew Howard, Interim Chief of Orthopedic Surgery and Senior Scientist, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, who will speak about the concept of transportation health for children and youth. There will also be a local keynote address presenting the Qatari context and magnitude of transportation health issues in Qatar. The workshop will include panel discussions focused on minimizing child traffic injuries and traffic engineering/community design, followed by strategic planning discussion, including research priorities and next steps for executing a focused research agenda for Qatar.
