NIGERIA: The United Nations on Tuesday will launch the Step safely: strategies for preventing and managing falls across the life-course.
The Director, Social Determinants of Health at the World Health Organization (WHO), Etienne Krug announced this on his Twitter page.
According to him, the launch will discuss the benefits of walking and the need to make walking safer.
Krug would be the moderator of the programme.
The Director-General, WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will give the opening remarks on the hard facts about falls.
A poem titled, “Will You Be Next?” Don Merrell will be read by Poet Breis while a video on “Falls: The human impact” will be played.
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There will be a panel discussion and questions facilitated by Krug.
The panel include Dr Step Raju Dhakal, the Medical Director, Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre, Nepal, Dr Michael Keall of the Department of Public Health, He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme, University of Otago, New Zealand
Others on the panel would include Dr Olive Kobusingye who is a Senior Research Fellow, Makerere University School of Public Health, Distinguished Fellow, the George Institute for Global Health, Uganda and Dr Chris Todd, Director of the National Institute for Health Research Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit, United Kingdom.
Data on Falls
More than 684,000 people die as the result of a fall every year while 172 million more have been left with short- or long-term disability as a result of falls.
Statistics shows that falls result in more years lived with disability than road traffic injury, poisoning, drowning and burns combined.
Falls are a growing and under-recognized public health issue and it is predicted to rise drastically in the coming decades.
Many factors that give rise to falls include ageing populations, increased urbanization and sedentary lifestyles.
Step Safely
Step safely: strategies for preventing and managing falls across the life-course reflects the growing evidence and awareness that many falls are preventable and that prevention efforts are effective.
The report intend to urge governments and end-users to implement the efforts proposed in the report with immediate effect.
The key goal of the Step safely package is to focus fall prevention efforts on high-risk groups in all countries.
