Burn Injuries are a public health problem in many African countries. The Pan African Burn Society (PABS) is cognisant of this fact and is encouraging prevention of burns alongside quality care. There was a session dedicated to Burn Injury Prevetion at the 6th PABS congress held in Abidjan from 12-15 May 2015. I was asked to talk about Burn Injury prevention and this is the presentation I made. I will appreciate any feedback welcome. Kimani Wanjeri

1. Burn Injury prevention in
Kenya and the world
Presentation at 6th Pan African Burns Congress in
Abidjan – Cote D’Ivoire
Tuesday – 12th May 2015
Dr.Kimani Wanjeri
Lecturer – Dept of Surgery, University of Nairobi
Joseph.wanjeri@uonbi.ac.ke
onejerry@yahoo.com

2. Introduction
• 265,000 deaths are estimated to result from fire alone
every yr all over the world (does not include scalds,
electrical and other types of burns)
• Many more are left disfigured, disabled & stigmatized
• Over 90% of the world’s burn injuries occur in
developing countries
• Injuries occur in homes, workplaces (Manufacturing,
Construction, Agriculture industries and Transport
sector)
• Public Health problem especially among the world’s
poor
http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/other_injury/burns/e
n/

3. Prevention is better than cure
• The suffering caused by burns is tragic because
burns are so eminently preventable
• The developed world has managed to reduce
burn mortality by;
 Proven prevention strategies
 Improvements in burn care
• Most of these intervention strategies have not
been completely applied in Africa
• Objective of participants at the 6th Pan African
Burns Congress (PABS) was principally to learn
from one another and brainstorm/discuss on
ways and means of rectifying this situation

4. Nairobi:
Urbanisation/
poor housing/
& overcrowding
results in burns

5. Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya
Largest slum in Africa and 3rd largest in
the world

6. Google map of Kibera slum in Nairobi

7. Causes of high burden of Burn Injuries
• Poverty
• Urbanisation
• Poor housing
• Ignorance
• Poor utilization of available resources
• Emphasis on treatment and poor emphasis on
prevention

8. Burns vs other injuries
We can learn from studying strategies employed
in the prevention of other injuries and
especially;
• Occupational injuries,
• Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs)
• Aviation industry accidents
• Sports injuries

9. Strategies used for prevention of other
injuries and diseases
• International Labour Organization (ILO) –
Involved in promotion of occupational safety
and health
• Has set aside the World Day on Safety and
Health at work – observed annually on 28th
Apr by ILO member states
• On this day; issues concerning safety and
health at the workplace are discussed and
awareness is created

10. Occupational safety strategies in Kenya
(Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Services)
• National policy on Occupational Safety and
Health
• Establishment of Occupational Safety and
Health Institute
• Conference on Occupational Safety and Health
held – During the world day on Safety and
Health (28th April 2015)
• Occupational Safety and Health Awards
(Awarded for first time on 28th Apr 2015)

11. Stages of injury prevention
• Surveillance
• Analysis
• Intervention & Evaluation
• Education, Engineering & Enforcement

12. Approach to burn injury prevention
• Surveillance – Magnitude of burden
determined
• Analysis – Risk factors identified
• Intervention; Raise awareness,
promote/advocate for an environment that
minimizes the risk of burn injury
• Evaluation

13. Surveillance;
magnitude of burden
• Data – develop efficient burns data collecting
systems
• Regular monitoring of patient numbers at
institutional and national level
• Research on prevalence of burns

14. Analysis;
Causes & Risk factors
Causes
• Urbanisation
• Poverty
• Carelessness – homes,
industries and outside
• Wrong handling of cooking
appliances
• Inter-personal conflict
• Crime
• Terrorism
• War
Risk factors
• Overcrowding
• Low level of education and
especially maternal
education
• Race
• Disease – Convulsive
disorders eg Epilepsy
• Use of cheap fuels for
cooking (Kerosene)

15. Intervention
• Raise awareness
• Promote/advocate for an environment that
minimizes the risk of burn injury eg advocate
for minimum safe housing standards

16. Evaluation
• Clinical meetings
• Health departments and ministries – Review
of statistics
• Review of National statistics eg Kenya
Demographic Health Survey (KDHS)

17. Education, Engineering and
Enforcement
• Education
– Seminars
– Workshops
– Conferences/Congresses
• Safe homes and work places
• Safe lighting & cooking appliances
• Legislation eg
– Fire fighting appliances in homes, institutions &
workplaces
– Mandatory fire safety training for institutions and
industries
– Safe fire safety practices

18. How do we prevent burn injuries
• Raise awareness
• Educate public on fire safety and burn injury
prevention
• Make the home environment safe for children
especially – better housing/better planning of homes
• Initiate hazard reduction programs for informal
settlements/slums
• Resource centres for burn injury prevention
• Create/build a culture of prevention of burn injuries

19. African countries with centres
dedicated to injury control
• South Africa
• Uganda – Injury Control Centre
http://www.cnis.ca/what-we-do/safer-
communities-in-africa-program/icc-u/

20. Improve residential areas:
eg Kibera slum upgrading project

21. What we are doing in Nairobi to help
reduce burn injuries
• Burn Society of Kenya (BSK)
 Formed in 2014 and held its first scientific
meeting/symposium at the Boma Hotel in Nairobi on 25th
October 2014
 1st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of BSK – 25thApr 2015
• Partnership with Kenya Power Pension Fund
 Renovation of KNH Burns Unit & Plastic Surgery ward
 Burns awareness week in August 2015; Media to help raise
awareness, Speeches, Exhibitions and a Walk
• Plans for construction of a National Burns Centre

22. Ensuring fire safety within KNH Burns
Unit

23. Challenges faced in burn injury
prevention
• Lack of funding
• Lack of manpower/Inadequate personnel
• Poor governance
• Political instability
• Corruption
• Culture/Cultural beliefs
• Terrorism and warfare

24. Stakeholders
• Health institutions
• Ministries of Health
• Pan African Burn Society (PABS)
• Local burn societies
• Interburns – Organizes Essential Burn Care
Courses & set up training centre for Africa at
Korle Bu in Ghana
• International Society of Burn Injuries (ISBI)
• World Health Organisation (WHO)
• Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) eg
– Injury Prevention Initiative For Africa (IPIFA)
– Canadian Network for International Surgery (CNIS)

25. Lessons from the west
• The American Burn Association – Has a prevention committee & Burn
awareness week (First full week of February)
• Research - to inform burn prevention programs
• Surveillance systems eg The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System
(NEISS)
• In Australia and New Zealand the fire department regularly educates the
community on fire safety
• Support groups for burn injury prevention eg Children’s Burn Foundation
• Legislation geared to safety eg Legislation controlling temperature of bath
water, construction of buildings
American Burn Association. Scalds: a burning issue. A campaign kit for burn
awareness week 2000. http://www.ameriburn.org/Preven

26. World Burn injury prevention success
stories
• The west has generally done relatively well in
burn injury prevention – eg fire retardant
material for children’s clothing
• Childhood Burn Foundation - Taiwan: example
of model surveillance system
• The Safe Bottle Lamp Foundation (Sri Lanka
1992 – Dr Wijay Godakumbura)

27. Conclusion
• Burns are preventable even in resource poor
setting
• Burn care givers should be the champions for
prevention
• Good patient records, research and frequent
Monitoring and Evaluation are important
• More efforts in burn injury prevention are
needed in Africa even as we strive to improve the
quality of burn care
• Set aside time in your units/cities/countries to
discuss fire safety and burn injury prevention

28. References
• PABS history;
• http://pabs2015.org/history?locale=en
• Ronald Lett (The Canadian Network of International Surgery),
Olive Kobusingye (Injury prevention initiative for Africa):
Achievements and Challenges of Injury Prevention
• WHO website
• American Burn Association website
• Asha Parbhoo, Q.A. Louw , K. Grimmer-Somers
Burn prevention programs for children in developing countries
require urgent attention: A targeted literature review
• The Safe Bottle Lamp Foundation;
http://www.safelamp.org/

29. The End
Turn up the heat in Africa and help your country
prevent Burn Injuries