Vol. 3 No. 03 May/June (2010): Western Nigeria Journal of Medical Sciences Volume 3

The opening paper in the present volume of WNJMS is Muhibi's who has sounded a timely warning on the need for private laboratories to pay serious attention to the ethical issues in their practice. This becomes necessary as more and more laboratory scientists are setting up private practices. Issues of standardization quality, legal and other aspects of control have to be properly addressed.

Nigeria has been described as a country with a serious and growing road crash problem which is among the worst in the world. The increasing use of motorcycles particularly for commercial commuter services has been a source of concern in this regard because motorcycles cause many more fatal road crashes than other vehicles worldwide.

In many countries of the world, the use of motorcycle crash helmets has been shown to reduce the frequency and severity of head injuries in accidents. Sangowawa et al in their study of the subject has found that 54.6% of surveyed motorcyclists and 95.5% of their adult passengers in Ibadan did not wear crash helmets properly (securely fastened over their chins) and could possibly have sustained head injuries in case of accidents.

This indicates that health education and legislation, and indeed all health actions must be taken to their logical ends in order to reap their expected benefits. Good laws have to be enforced to be effective.

Conflict and wars have been part of human history from time immemorial. Oluwadiya et al have written an account of gunshot limb fractures sustained in the 1999 Ife/Modakeke war. Their experience emphasizes the need for public hospitals to be equipped with facilities capable of coping with mass casualties in times of crisis. Of course, this is best done in peacetime for although a tear may be an accident, a good patch requires premeditated action.

Olasinde et al have reported on their successful use of free non-vascularised intramedullary splint grafts to bridge the fracture sites in the operative management of severe atrophic limb fracture non-union in two young adults. They recommend the method as a feasible option for the use of surgeons in developing countries in their management of limb fracture non-union.

Olamide et al's paper is a case report on a 9-day-old baby who presented with upper limb deformities (shortened forearms) and had thrombocytopenia features consistent with the diagnosis of TAR syndrome.

Finally, it is to be expected that the health of a pregnant woman and that of the fetus she is carrying would in some way be linked. Adebami et al have shown in their prospective study that the nutritional status and socio-economic classes of mothers are determinants of the frequency of occurrence of foetal malnutrition in their babies.

Well, mothers tend to deliver well babies.

References:
1. Asogwa SE Road Traffic Accidents in Nigeria: a review and a reappraisal Injury 1990; 21: 234-8
2. Oluwadiya KS Pattern of limb injuries resulting from motor cycle accidents in Ile-Ife. A dissertation
submitted to the Natural Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria May 2001
3. Adesunkanmi ARK, Oginni LM,Oyelami OA,Badru OS, Road traffic accidents to African children.
Assessment of severity using the injury severity score. Injury Int. J . Care Injured 2000; 31: 225-8
4. Bergman AB,Rivera FP, Richards DA. The seattle children's bicycle helmet campaign- Am J Dis
childhood 1990; 144: 727-31.

Gabriel A.Oyedeji