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World report on child injury prevention

An examination of the most common child injuries and how to prevent them

Authors: M. Peden (ed); K. Oyegbite (ed); J. Ozanne-Smith (ed); World Health Organization
Publisher: UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, 2009

Full text of document

This report on child injury prevention brings together all that is currently known about the various types of child injuries and how to prevent them. At the same time, it recognises that there are major gaps in knowledge. The overall aims of the report are:

  • to raise awareness about the magnitude, risk factors and impacts of child injuries globally
  • to draw attention to the preventability of child injuries and present what is known about the effectiveness of intervention strategies
  • to make recommendations that can be implemented by all countries to reduce child injuries effectively.
The report consists of seven main chapters. Chapter 1 places child  injuries in the context of other health concerns and related global issues and discusses the fundamentals of child injury prevention. Chapters 2 through 6 examine the five major mechanisms of child injuries: road traffic injuries, drowning, burns, falls and poisonings. Each of these chapters reviews the epidemiology, the risk factors, the interventions and the effectiveness of interventions, and concludes with some important strategies to prevent or manage the particular type of injury. Chapter 7 draws together the common themes of earlier chapters. It also presents a set of broad recommendations that governments and others concerned should seriously consider implementing so as to begin reducing the burden of child injuries.  These include:
  • integrate child injury into a comprehensive approach to child health and development
  • develop and implement a child injury prevention policy and a plan of action
  • implement specific actions to prevent and control child injuries
  • strengthen health systems to address child injuries
  • enhance the quality and quantity of data for child injury prevention
  • define priorities for research, and support research on the causes, consequences, costs and prevention of child injuries
  • raise awareness of and target investments towards child injury prevention.