“The Wound Epidemic”

The global Wound Care problem is escalating.  It is estimated that there are over 400 million wounds  that need care every year, including;

• 300 million Acute/Surgical wounds annually

• 40 million Chronic Wounds annually

• 100 million Traumatic wounds (including Burns) annually

 

The WHO and UN issued a warning statement on the world’s health in September 2011. In this they identified Non-Communicable Diseases, including Diabetes and Cardiovascular disease (two of the main causes of non-healing wounds) as "The Major Health Threat" globally. (The last time such a statement was issued was for the AIDS epidemic).

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Wound care is expensive:

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In the U.S. alone wound care is a $22 billion problem.

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Diabetes and its complications have a significant economic impact on individuals, families, health systems and countries. In the U.S., for example, diabetes-related amputations cost approximately $3 billion per year and another $9 billion is spent on diabetic foot ulcer treatment.

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THE COST FOR ONE EPISODE OF LEG ULCER CARE IS ESTIMATED TO EXCEED $40,000
 

It can cost $70,000 to heal 1 severe bedsore!

 

It isn’t just the financial costs:

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• 60,000 people die from bedsore-related problems in the U.S. each year.

• Persons with leg ulcers account for 2 million lost work days per year.

• The relative 5-year mortality (death) rate after limb amputation is 68%, which is higher than the relative 5-year mortality rate for Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer and Colon Cancer. That means you have a better chance of living 5 years if you have breast cancer than if you are diabetic with an amputation for a diabetic foot ulcer.

 

Most people who have a wound assume their health care provider will know how to best heal their wound; unfortunately that is not true in many cases. Health care professionals receive minimal training and education in wound care during their formal education process, so they often rely on "learning on the job". This leads to less than adequate care and poor use of the research evidence we have for how to best heal wounds. In developing countries this lack of knowledge is more severe.

Fonte: Wound Reach Foundation. www.woundreach.org