Activities for Injury Prevention

Abstract

yas G> ~ E noted with interest your publication's recent editorial (1) which emphasizes the importance of injuries as W 5.T.T 2 causes of death, disability, and economic costs in the it W % United States today and proposes the establishment of a P c) "National Institute of Injury Prevention" to develop and coordinate research and control efforts directed at the problem of injuries. We strongly agree that injuries constitute a major public health problem that warrants greatly increased attention and support. Indeed, in the United States, injuries annually affect approximately 1 of 3 persons (2), lead to emergency room visits for 1 of 5 persons (3), and account for 9.5% of acute-care hospitalizations (4) and 5.6% of deaths (5). Injuries are the leading cause of death for persons aged 1-44 years (6) and the nation's leading cause of premature death (7). We disagree, however, with the statement that "injuries remain to this day a neglected and forgotten area of public health concern." The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) formally recognized the importance of selected injuries in the 1978 report of its ad hoc Programs and Policies Advisory Committee (8), and injury prevention is one of 15 health priority areas identified by the Public Health Service in 1980 for concerted national action (9). In line with these priorities, the CDC has established programmatic foci for the evaluation and control of injuries in the Special Studies Branch of the Center for Environmental Health (CEH), the Violence Epidemiology Branch of the Center for Health Promotion and Education, the Division of Safety Research of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Epidemiologic Studies Branch of