Letter to the Editor about Neurotrauma Registry Implementation in the Republic of Niger: Challenges and Benefits for the National Trauma Surveillance

Medical information systems should be viewed as part of the healthcare chain. Without a reliable medical records system, assessing the quality of care will be difficult. Therefore, it is impossible to improve the health of millions of people in our country. Having the right patient's medical record in the hands of the right healthcare professional at the right time goes a long way toward ensuring faster, more effective care. Nowadays, we are more concerned about the neurotrauma registry since, in our country, as in many other low-income countries, it is by far the most commonly treated neurosurgical pathology. Dewan et al.1 reported in 2019 that traumatic brain injury in low-income countries represented 35% of the global burden of neurosurgical diseases, 72% required neurosurgical consultation and surgery, and only 32.3% benefited from neurosurgical treatment. Moreover, in these resource-limited countries, neurotrauma conditions affect mostly young adults with male predominance and a high mortality rate (10.3% to 21%) with a direct impact on economic productivity, adding strain on healthcare resources2. The National Neurotrauma Registry will allow us to have a robust, reliable medical records system accessible to all. Such medical record systems save lives and relieve the strain on the already lacking resources in the healthcare system. The purpose of this letter is to raise awareness of the National Neurotrauma Registry, its challenges, and the steps for its implementation in resource-limited regions.