Abstract

Fire and flames are among leading causes of injury death in South Asian (SA) countries. The overall male dominance worldwide, with a few exceptions not least among SA countries, creates interest in more detailed information on gender differences in this particular region. The current paper intends to assess country-specific unintentional fire and flame injury deaths in ages 15–49 years in the South-Asian region. The Global burden of disease (GBD) data for 2015 were analyzed as age-specific mortality rates per 1 00 000 population. Age-specific mortality rates due to unintentional fire and flame injuries varied widely between countries. Rates were highest in Bhutan (6.6 among 15–29-y and 7.4 among 30–49-y per 100,000) followed by India (4.4 among 15–29-y and 4.2 among 30–49-y per 100,000) and Nepal (3.2 among 15–29-y and 2.9 among 30–49-y per 100,000) and lowest in Maldives (1 among 15–29-y per 100,000) and Bangladesh (0.8 among 30–49-y per 100,000). Female mortality rates due to fire and flames were higher in both 15–29 and 30–49 years compare to males in all the countries in the region, except for Pakistan. While men are generally overrepresented in unintentional injury deaths worldwide, South Asian countries have experienced higher fire and flame mortality rates among young women than men. Like in most low-income countries, South Asian countries suffer from poor and incomplete fire and flame injury data. To construct an effective strategy, policies on fire safety in SA countries must be focused on complete and valid information, and designed for particular groups and circumstances.