In 2013, the World Health Organisation published a study on spinal cord injury [International Perspectives on Spinal Cord Injury] in collaboration with ISCOS [The International Spinal Cord Society]. This publication helps us understand the scope and magnitude of spinal cord injury in the world (between 250,000 and 500,000 people in the world suffer spinal cord injuries each year). And that leads us to understand how devastating it is for several reasons. A high percentage of the injuries occur by accident [the study says 90%], which implies a drastic and sudden change in the life of a previously healthy person Secondly, due to the serious consequences, not only at personal and family level, but also in terms of care and special needs not always available and the risk of exclusion if attention is not given to education and integration in the working world.
The positive message sent out by the study points to prevention and the strategies for reducing the impact of spinal cord injury, especially in the case of traumatic injury, as well as improvements to the overall response given by healthcare systems. This will generate more efficient systems as a whole and improvements to health care in general and the need for supporting the development of care and mobility devices.
To consult the full study: http://www.who.int/disabilities/policies/spinal_cord_injury/en/
