Work together to save human lives: Kalam

Coimbatore, May 3: Former President A P J Abdul Kalam today called upon various service organisations, hospitals and governments to join together to handle medical emergencies like road accidents and childbirth to save the lives of people. Launching a community outreach programme ''Swasam,'' at Ganga Hospital here, he said an emergency management was necessary to control death due to heart diseases, road accidents, self-inflicted injuries, natural calamities and infant mortality during child birth.

The Indian automobile industry was growing at an impressive rate of 17 per cent and there was a growing concern regarding the increase in number of accidents taking place on Indian roads, he said. The average yearly loss of lives due to road accidents was 1.2 million, he said, adding the country was losing Rs 55,000 crore every year due to road accidents.

There was an urgent need to save the lives using new technologies like prevention techniques with respect to road infrastructure, structural deficiencies, vehicle designs, awareness of drivers and passengers, Dr Kalam said.

UNI