Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are the sixth leading cause of deaths in India and about 400 deaths
take place every day due to road traffic accidents. The present paper analyses the data of the
India’s National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) to assess the burden of RTI. In addition, it reports
the health systems research initiated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). As per
NCRB data, in 2015, 6.3 million persons (50 persons per 10 million population) injured and out
of them 1.4 million (11 persons per 10 million population) died in India. Except the NCRB data,
there are no nation-wide data on RTI and the data remain poorly collected and sporadic in India.
Hence, ICMR has initiated a multi-centric study to establish an electronic-based comprehensive
and integrated RTI surveillance system. The second issue on which ICMR undertake research
is timely and quality care of RTI patients as many deaths occur either at the scene or en route
to the hospital. There is a clear survival and functional benefit for critically injured patients to
receive appropriate care within the first 60 minutes of injury (‘golden hour’). Hence, this multicentric study has been initiated to standardize structured evidence-based intervention for
safety, efficacy and quality of post-crash pre-hospital and in-hospital trauma care services to
improve the outcome in RTI victims. An android-based trauma registry is being built and will
be used to assess the impact of interventions. These studies will provide first comprehensive
estimates on various epidemiological issues related to RTI. Also, an evidence of improvement
through quality post-crash prehospital and in-hospital trauma care services will emerge. These
results will contribute to the setting of research and investment priorities and to formulate
policies and guidelines.
Keywords: Road traffic injuries, Road traffic accidents, Trauma, Surveillance, Registry,
Intervention, Indi