Eleventh national accident prevention week from today

Colombo, July 6 (Daily Mirror) - The Eleventh National Accident Prevention Week will commence today (6), aimed at raising public awareness on accident prevention across Sri Lanka.

The inaugural ceremony will be held at the main auditorium of the Health and Mass Media Ministry, under the patronage of Health and Mass Media Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa.

The programme comes in response to the significant number of deaths, injuries, and disabilities caused by accidents each year in Sri Lanka. Authorities said that a large proportion of hospital admissions are due to incidents such as road accidents, falls, workplace injuries, drownings, and domestic accidents.

The week-long campaign, which will run from July 06 to July 10, is organized by the Non-Communicable Diseases Unit of the Ministry of Health and Mass Media under the guidance of the National Advisory Committee on Accident Prevention (NCPI). The initiative aims to reduce the burden of accidents on the country’s healthcare system and socio-economic development.

Each day of the programme will focus on a specific theme:

• July 06 – Road Accident Prevention Day
• July 07 – Workplace Accident Prevention Day
• July 08 – Home and Elderly Care Accident Prevention Day
• July 09 – Drowning Prevention Day
• July 10 – Accident Prevention in Schools, Pre-Schools and Day Care Centres

During the week, islandwide awareness campaigns, risk identification activities, and practical safety programmes will be conducted. Short, medium, and long-term preventive measures are also expected to be introduced with the participation of government institutions, health services, the education sector, and security agencies, along with public involvement, which organizers say is essential to making accident prevention a national responsibility.