New Delhi: A new study has shown that burn survivors in India need more mental health support to help them deal with stigma and discrimination. Even though medical treatment has improved and more people are surviving burn injuries, many still face poor treatment in hospitals.
The study was done in Uttar Pradesh and found that many hospitals lack resources, have too few staff, and are part of a system that often fails burn patients. This leads to poor care, especially for women, people with visible scars or disabilities, and those from poor families.
“Burn survivors, especially women and poor people, are often blamed, ignored, and treated badly in hospitals,” said Pratishtha Singh from The George Institute for Global Health. She also noted that healthcare workers are often overworked and stressed, which can lead to them acting in ways that harm patients, even if unintentionally. “To improve care for burn patients, we need to focus on both the patients and the problems in the healthcare system,” she added.
Burn injuries are a big health problem around the world. About 180,000 people die from burns each year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. In India, around 2.1 million people suffer burn injuries every year, leading to 25,000 deaths and more than 1.4 million years of lost health and ability (known as disability-adjusted life years or DALYs).
The study, published in the journal Burns, also gave some suggestions to improve the situation. These include:
Giving doctors and nurses special training on how to care for burn patients and treat them with respect.
Adding more information about burn recovery and mental health to medical education.
Making sure hospitals have better mental health and rehab services.
Creating rules to stop discrimination in hospitals, with help from the government, legal groups, and other organisations.
The researchers said that improving care for burn survivors means fixing both emotional support and problems in the health system, so patients can get the respectful and fair treatment they deserve.