Extracts and a comment from me below. Read online: https://www.who.int/news/item/29-11-2022-who-urges-more-effective-preven...
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WHO urges more effective prevention of injuries and violence causing 1 in 12 deaths worldwide
29 November 2022 News release
Injuries and violence take the lives of some 12 000 people around the world each day. As reflected in a new World Health Organization report, Preventing injuries and violence: an overview, 3 of the top 5 causes of death among people aged 5–29 years are injury related, namely road traffic injuries, homicide and suicide.
In addition to those, injury related killers are drowning, falls, burns and poisoning, among others. Of the 4.4 million annual injury related deaths, roughly 1 in 3 of these deaths result from road traffic crashes, 1 in 6 from suicide, 1 in 9 from homicide and 1 in 61 from war and conflict...
Many effective and low-cost interventions are available. For example, in Spain, setting the default speed limit for cities at 30 kilometres per hour is improving road safety; in Viet Nam, providing swimming training is preventing drowning; and in the Philippines, legislation to raise the age of sexual consent from 12 years to 16, in a bid to protect minors from sexual violence, is bringing positive change. However, in most countries, political will and investment are lacking as measures are not in place in sufficient levels...
This report also highlighted the prevention measures and available WHO technical guidance that can support decisions for scaling up prevention efforts.
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COMMENT (NPW): It is notable that the largest number of deaths are due to road traffic accidents. In addition to prevention, there is a need to improve first aid and transfer to facilities that are staffed and equipped to provide life-saving care. Too many victims of road accidents in LMICs have no access to effective first aid, no ambulance services, and no access to adequate trauma care.
Best wishes, Neil
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HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of the HIFA global health movement (Healthcare Information For All - www.hifa.org ), a global community with more than 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting on six global forums in four languages in collaboration with WHO. HIFA brings stakeholders together to accelerate progress towards universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK based non-profit in official relations with the World Health Organization.
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