A successful model of road traffic injury surveillance in a developing country: process and lessons learnt

Junaid Abdul Razzak, Muhammad Shahzad Shamim, Amber Mehmood, Syed Ameer Hussain, Mir Shabbar Ali, Rashid Jooma

Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs) are one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide with 90% of global mortality concentrated in the low and middle income countries. RTI surveillance is recommended to define the burden, identify high risk groups, plan intervention and monitor their impact. Despite its stated importance in the literature, very few examples of sustained surveillance systems are reported from low income countries. This paper shares the experience of setting up an urban RTI surveillance program in the emergency departments of five major hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan.