Friday, March 29, 2024 | 14:37 WIB

Preparing for a safe trip home with the children

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Jakarta, IO – In Indonesia, Eid-el-Fitr is the traditional time to perform mudik, or the yearly pilgrimage to one’s hometown or village. Many families prepare their mudik journey weeks ahead – including deciding whether they will use land, water, or air transport. Usually, such long trips necessitate going by trains, buses, or cars. However, partially because of frugality and some because of laxity, many a young parent goes home with their toddlers in tow…using motorcycles. 

This is a bad practice that may endanger a child. The WHO reports that once every 24 seconds, someone dies on the road. Road traffic injuries have become a hidden epidemic in developing countries. More than 85% of all deaths, and 90% of disability adjusted life years are lost because of road traffic injuries in developing countries. 

The number of fatalities per 100,000 population among children aged 0-4 and 5-14 years, in low-income countries, is about six times greater than in high-income countries. The highest burden of injuries and fatalities is borne disproportionately by poor people in developing countries – the pedestrians, bus passengers, and cyclists. 

According to our Ministry of Health’s Health Research and Development Agency 2018 data, the top three causes of injury in children aged 0-18 years old in Indonesia are: transport accidents, accidental drowning and submersions, and falls. More than 90% of traffic accidents are caused by blatant or negligent incompliance with traffic rules. 

No matter what, transport accidents are preventable and must be reduced. Briefly, that is our takeaway from the Indonesian Pediatricians’ Association (Ikatan Dokter Anak Indonesia–IDAI) “Traveling Safely with Children” online media brief in Jakarta, Tuesday (04/04/2023). 

A member of the IDAI Child Emergency and Intensive Care Coordination Task Force and pediatrics specialist and perinatology consultant practicing at the Murni Teguh Hospital in Medan, Dr. dr. Ririe Fachrina Malisie, Sp.A(K), declares that to complement prevention, immediate mitigation efforts in emergencies involving child travel injuries are crucial. Such traffic injuries and emergencies may cause death or disability, and they far too frequently happen to our children and teens. 

A major risk of injury when being involved in car accidents is related to impact. Sudden braking of a car may cause the child to become thrown and hit their head. 

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