The corpses will be incinerated on the battlefield then the remains (ashes) will be gathered and sent to their various homes for proper ceremonial rites. This acts of cremation was actually adopted to ensure that the remains of soldiers killed in a foreign land or territory during the time of War return home to their families. It would interest you to know that the practice of cremation was first introduced by the Greeks to the western part of the world far back as 1000 BCE. It is also a funeral or post funeral right, and also serves as an alternative to burial of an intact dead body. The high risk for females is associated with open fire cooking, or inherently unsafe cook stoves, which can ignite loose clothing.According to Wikipedia, “Cremation” is defined as the method of final deposition of a dead body through burning (combustion). WHO explains, “Females suffer burns more frequently than males. Burns are the second most common injury in rural Nepal, accounting for 5% of disabilities. In Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt and Pakistan, 17% of children with burns have a temporary disability and 18% have a permanent disability. A National Burn Registry would be formulated by the Central Health Education Bureau based on the availability of data through a regular feedback mechanism of reporting. To restore the burn patients back into society, rehabilitation services will be provided at district and state levels. Two surgeons from each district will be trained by the Burns and Plastic surgeons at RML Hospital, LNJP Hospital or Safdarjung Hospital. Ambulance drivers, nursing staff and dressers will be trained in first aid to burn cases for ambulance drivers. This will create a burn support system for the village and will be utilized to transport serious burn patients from the place of injury to district or designated burn units. Under the plan, each district will be provided with an advanced life support (ALS) system ambulance. Burn Injury Management protocol is being prepared by experts and will be distributed to all the states soon. The rehabilitation of the individual may be a challenging and daunting task.” A six-day training programme for surgeons/medical officers at medical colleges have been prepared.

Cost of hospitalized burn injury case management is extremely high which may cost enormous financial burden to the country. The programme note says, “Among all traumas, burn cases have highest duration of hospital bed occupancy. As many as 80% of cases admitted are a result of accidents at home (kitchen-related incidents). Around four out of five burnt cases are women and children. Around 70% of all burn injuries occur in most productive age group (15-35 years). The ministry says India records 70 lakh burn injury cases annually of which 1.4 lakh people die of burn every year.

Around 150 government medical colleges and 492 district hospitals would be equipped and trained to effectively treat burn cases and put in place treatment wards by the end of 2017. The ministry has prepared a Rs 2,933-crore national programme against burn injuries. In many high-income countries, burn death rates have been decreasing, and the rate of child deaths from burns is currently over seven times higher in low and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.” Burn injuries have finally got the Union health ministry’s attention. Burns are a global public health problem accounting for an estimated 195, 000 deaths annually. WHO says, “Non-fatal burn injuries are a leading cause of morbidity even though burns are preventable. While a major risk is improper adult supervision, a considerable number of burn injuries in children result from child maltreatment. Burns are the 11th leading cause of death of children aged between one and nine years and are also the fifth most common cause of non-fatal childhood injuries. Along with adult women, children are particularly vulnerable to burns. According to WHO, in India, over 10 lakh people are moderately or severely burnt every year. Women in the south-east Asian region have the highest rate of burns, accounting for 27% of global burn deaths and nearly 70% of fatalities in the region. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest figures that were released on Wednesday says nearly 1.95 lakh deaths every year are caused by burns. NEW DELHI: Death due to burns – both at home and at workplace - has become a serious public health menace.

Indian burn