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Background: Countries with the highest burden of maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths often have little information on these deaths. Since over 81% of births worldwide now occur in facilities, using routine facility data could reduce this data gap. We assessed the availability, quality, and utility of routine labour and delivery ward register data in five hospitals in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Tanzania. This paper forms the baseline register assessment for the Every Newborn-Birth Indicators Research Tracking in Hospitals (EN-BIRTH) study. Methods: We extracted 21 data elements from routine hospital labour ward registers, useful to calculate selected maternal and newborn health (MNH) indicators. The study sites were five public hospitals during a one-year period (2016-17). We measured 1) availability: completeness of data elements by register design, 2) data quality: implausibility, internal consistency, and heaping of birthweight and explored 3) utility by calculating selected MNH indicators using the available data.

ObjectiveInjuries are a global health problem. To develop context-specific injury prevention interventions, one needs to understand population perceptions of home and workplace injuries. This study explored a range of views and perceptions about injuries in a variety of settings and identified barriers and facilitators to injury prevention.DesignQualitative study: interviews and focus groups.SettingThree administrative areas: Hetauda submetropolitan city, Thaha municipality and Bakaiya rural municipality in Makwanpur, Nepal.ParticipantsNine focus groups (74 participants) and nine one-to-one interviews were completed; workers from diverse occupations, residents (slum, traditional or modern homes) and local government decision-makers participated in the study between May and August 2019. The interviews and discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated to English and analysed thematically.ResultsSix themes were developed: unsafe home and workplace environment; inadequate supervision and monitoring; perceptions that injuries are inevitable; safety takes low priority: financial and behavioural considerations; safety education and training; and government-led safety programmes and enforcement. Key barriers to injury prevention were perceived to be lack of knowledge about injury risk and preventive measures both at the community level and at the workplace. Facilitators were community-level educational programmes and health and safety training to employees and employers. Participants stressed the importance of the role of the government in planning future injury prevention programmes in different environments.ConclusionsThis study highlighted that both home and workplace injuries are complex and multifactorial. Lack of knowledge about injury risks and preventive measures, both at the community level and at the workplace, was found to be a common barrier to injury prevention, perceived to be mitigated by educational programmes. Together with previously published epidemiological evidence, the barriers and facilitators identified in this study offer useful basis to inform policy and practice.

ObjectiveTo describe the epidemiology of home-related and work-related injuries, their mechanisms, inequalities and costs associated with these injuries.MethodsA household survey was undertaken in three palikas of Makwanpur district between April and June 2019. Data were collected electronically on non-fatal injuries that occurred in the previous 3 months and fatal injuries that occurred in the previous 5 years.Findings17 593 individuals were surveyed from 3327 households. Injury rates were 8.0 per 1000 population for home injuries and 6.4 per 1000 for work-related injuries; 61.0% of home injuries were among women and 69.9% of work-related injuries among men. Falls were the cause of 48% home injuries, affecting 50.9% of men and 46.5% of women. Burns/scalds were higher in women than men, affecting 17.4% of women reporting home injuries. Cuts and piercings accounted for 39.8% of all work-related injuries and 36.3% were falls. Injury incidence varied by ethnic group: home injuries were highest in Brahmin (12.0 per 1000) and work-related injuries highest in Rai groups (21.0 per 1000). The total mean costs (transport and treatment) of work-related injury was US$143.3 (SD 276.7), higher than for home injuries (US$130.4, SD 347.6). The number of home (n=74, 64.9%) and work-related (n=67, 77.9%) injuries were higher in families below the poverty line than families in the next income bracket (home: n=22, 19.3%; work: n=11, 12.8%).ConclusionsHome-related and work-related fall injuries are common. The inequalities in injury identified in our study by rurality, age, sex, income level and ethnic group can help target injury prevention interventions for vulnerable groups.

Background: Globally, injuries cause more than 5 million deaths annually, a similar number to those from HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria combined. In people aged between 5 and 44 years of age trauma is the leading cause of death and disability and the burden is highest in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Like other LMICs, injuries represent a significant burden in Nepal and data suggest that the number is increasing with high morbidity and mortality. In the last 20 years there have been significant improvements in injury outcomes in high income countries as a result of organised systems for collecting injury data and using this surveillance to inform developments in policy and practice. Meanwhile, in most LMICs, including Nepal, systems for routinely collecting injury data are limited and the establishment of injury surveillance systems and trauma registries have been proposed as ways to improve data quality and availability. Methods: This study will implement an injury surveillance system for use in emergency departments in Nepal to collect data on patients presenting with injuries. The surveillance system will be introduced in two hospitals and data collection will take place 24 h a day over a 12-month period using trained data collectors. Prospective data collection will enable the description of the epidemiology of hospital injury presentations and associated risk factors. Qualitative interviews with stakeholders will inform understanding of the perceived benefits of the data and the barriers and facilitators to embedding a sustainable hospital-based injury surveillance system into routine practice. Discussion: The effective use of injury surveillance data in Nepal could support the reduction in morbidity and mortality from adult and childhood injury through improved prevention, care and policy development, as well as providing evidence to inform health resource allocation. This study seeks to test a model of injury surveillance based in emergency departments and explore factors that have the potential to influence extension to additional settings.

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Almost 10% of global deaths are secondary to injuries, yet in the absence of routine injury surveillance and with few studies of injury mortality, the number and cause of injury deaths in many countries are not well understood. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the feasibility of a method to identify injury deaths in rural Nepal. Working with local government authorities, health post staff and female community health volunteers (FCHVs), we developed a two-stage community fatal injury surveillance approach. In stage one, all deaths from any cause were identified. In stage two, an interview with a relative or friend gathered information about the deceased and the injury event. The feasibility of the method was evaluated prospectively between February 2019 and January 2020 in two rural communities in Makwanpur district. The data collection tools were developed and evaluated with 108 FCHVs, 23 health post staff and two data collectors. Of 457 deaths notified over one year, 67 (14.7%) fatal injury events were identified, and interviews completed. Our method suggests that it is feasible to collect data on trauma-related deaths from rural areas in Nepal. These data may allow the development of injury prevention interventions and policy.

BackgroundGlobally, injuries cause >5 million deaths annually and children and young people are particularly vulnerable. Injuries are the leading cause of death in people aged 5–24 years and a leading cause of disability. In most low-income and middle-income countries where the majority of global child injury burden occurs, systems for routinely collecting injury data are limited.MethodsA new model of injury surveillance for use in emergency departments in Nepal was designed and piloted. Data from patients presenting with injuries were collected prospectively over 12 months and used to describe the epidemiology of paediatric injury presentations.ResultsThe total number of children <18 years of age presenting with injury was 2696, representing 27% of all patients presenting with injuries enrolled. Most injuries in children presenting to the emergency departments in this study were unintentional and over half of children were <10 years of age. Falls, animal bites/stings and road traffic injuries accounted for nearly 75% of all injuries with poisonings, burns and drownings presenting proportionately less often. Over half of injuries were cuts, bites and open wounds. In-hospital child mortality from injury was 1%.ConclusionInjuries affecting children in Nepal represent a significant burden. The data on injuries observed from falls, road traffic injuries and injuries related to animals suggest potential areas for injury prevention. This is the biggest prospective injury surveillance study in Nepal in recent years and supports the case for using injury surveillance to monitor child morbidity and mortality through improved data.