Injuries are not accidental, prevention is possible
Despite the magnitude of the problem, there is a broad range of strategies based on sound scientific evidence that have been shown to be effective in reducing injuries. For example, Sweden has successfully managed to reduce the rate of child injuries over the past few decades by about 80% among boys, and about 75% among girls. These dramatic reductions have been achieved using a range of approaches cutting across several sectors, and involving children and the community.
The injury rate among boys in Sweden dropped from around 23 per 100,000 in 1969 to around 5 per 100,000 in 1999.
In girls, the injury rate dropped from around 12 per 100,000 in 1969 to around 3 per 100,000 in 1999.
Source:
Laflamme, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
World Health Organization (WHO). World Report on Child Injury Prevention. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 2008
Many of these injury prevention programmes have steadily decreased the burden of injuries by applying proven prevention and treatment strategies. A number of countries have also managed to reduce their road traffic mortality rates in recent decades.
Six countries demonstrated a decreasing trend of road traffic deaths per 100,000 population from 1978 to 2007.
The largest decrease was observed in Japan with a drop from around 26 to around 8 per 100,000 population, while in Canada it dropped from around 25 to around 8, in France from around 23 to around 9, in Australia from around 23 to around 14, in the United States from around 13 to around 5, and in Sweden from around 11 to around 7.
Source: Global status report on road safety, WHO, 2009