- Special Pages BY FAZEENA SALEEM DOHA: Lack of adult
supervision at home leads to some 500 cases of poisoning among
children in Qatar every year, caused by consumption of things
like medicines, cosmetics or chemicals. Some 2,000 children
annually are rushed for emergency medical attention with burn
injuries suffered at home, according to Hamad International
Training Centre. An estimated 40,000 children are injured a year
due to poisoning, burns, choking, falls and being inadvertently
hit in the driveway, and 85 percent of these injuries occur at
home. Most burn injuries are caused by hot or boiling water and
equipment like cookers, irons or hair straightening devices.
There are children who bite live electrical wires or stick their
fingers or objects into electrical sockets or into fire and
suffer burn injuries. “Around 100 of the cases reported are
serious burn injuries. They can cause death, brain damage and
significant disability,” said Dr Khalid Abdulnoor Saifeldeen,
Director of Hamad International Train