Baby Cheramy is partnering with the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians to educate parents on prevention of home accidents, a major cause of child injuries in Sri Lanka. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed recently to cement this collaboration to uplift awareness on child safety.
A Parental Guide booklet was also launched on the occasion, authored by Professor in Paediatrics Manori Gamage and Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Kalyani Guruge on how to prevent home accidents to keep children safe. Developed in a highly informational easy to understand style, and written in child-friendly language with eye-catching poems and drawings, the booklet has the endorsement of the National Children’s Secretariat of the Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment.
The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians, the premier professional and academic college and the leading voice involved with child healthcare, along with Baby Cheramy has continuously engaged in educational initiatives to uplift child safety in Sri Lanka and together takes this step once more for the benefit of parents and children across the country.
Preventable child accidents continue to cause injury and death among children. Every year, 269,000 children in Sri Lanka are hospitalised due to accidents. A majority of these accidents happen in the home environment, but can be prevented by taking the correct precautions.
Dr. Kalyani Guruge said, “The ‘Home is the Castle and Fortress against injury and violence’ is a popular quote. According to statistics published on injuries, the home is the most common place where young children get injured. Children explore, have adventures, have fun and play, and in the process are more likely to get injured. When Baby Cheramy, which is part of the Hemas Group, invited me to write a booklet on home injuries, I was delighted to accept. I invited Prof. Manori Gamage to partner with me as I know her as a poet.”
“The book is a reflection of our experience gained in the hospitals of attending to children who present with injuries. Accidents are predictable; a few seconds of inattention can lead to a disaster. Foreseeing how home injuries could happen is the best way to prevent them. Both of us believe that this booklet would be helpful to parents, teachers and children to lead a happy life without injuries,” Guruge said.
