The Global Problem of Injuries to Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Last month the World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund released the World Report on Child Injury Prevention .1 The purpose of this report was to draw attention to the magnitude of the problem of injuries to children and adolescents around the world and to spur the development and implementation of strategies to decrease the toll from injuries. In the United States, injuries remain the leading cause of death and acquired disability for children beyond their first birthday and for adolescents. The response to the injury problem in the US has been modest on the part of the states and the federal government, with funding far smaller than the magnitude of the problem. Nevertheless, substantial advances have been made with the unintentional injury mortality rate for children and adolescents 45% lower in 2005 than in 1981.2 Less appreciated is that >95% of injury deaths occur in children and adolescents in the developing world, accounting for nearly 1 million deaths annually.3 Examining specific injury problems makes these data even more striking. For … Address correspondence to Frederick P. Rivara, MD, MPH, Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, Box 359960, 325 Ninth Ave, Seattle, WA 98104. E-mail: fpr{at}u.washington.edu