Injuries and violence take the lives of some 12 000 people around the world each day. Three of the top five 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 results from road traffic crashes, 1 in 6 from suicide, 1 in 9 from homicide and 1 in 61 from war and conflict. Most of these deaths could be prevented. Accelerated action is needed around proven solutions that are not only effective and cost-effective, but that also promote equity and sustainability.
Safety 2024, the 15th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, is hosted by the George Institute for Global Health and co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) under the banner "Building a safer future for all: equitable and sustainable strategies to prevent injuries and violence". The event draws attention to the latest evidence on what works to prevent these leading causes of death and disability.
"While they affect all countries, injuries and violence are not evenly distributed across or within countries; some people are more vulnerable than others depending on the conditions in which they are born, grow, work, live and age," notes Etienne Krug, Director of the Department of Social Determinants of Health at WHO. "We know what needs to be done. These measures must be brought to scale across countries and communities to save lives."
In addition to fatalities, tens of millions of people suffer non-fatal injuries each year which lead to emergency department visits, hospitalizations and treatment by general practitioners. These incidents often result in temporary or permanent disability and the need for long-term physical and mental health care and rehabilitation. Injuries and violence are responsible for an estimated 10% of all years lived with disability.
Compelling scientific evidence for what works to prevent injuries and violence has been collated into various WHO technical documents that can serve as a guide to support decisions for scaling up prevention. Among effective strategies are:
- for road safety, setting and enforcing laws on key risks such as speeding and drinking and driving, enhancing the design of roads and vehicles, and providing safe and sustainable public transport;
- for drowning prevention, installing barriers controlling access to water and teaching basic swimming, water safety and safe rescue skills;
- for violence prevention, developing safe, stable and nurturing relationships between children and their parents or caregivers and reducing access to guns and knives;
- for all injuries, decreasing the availability and harmful use of alcohol; and
- providing quality emergency care for victims.
Released by WHO in the context of Safety 2024 are two new violence prevention resources, namely, Designing, implementing, evaluating and scaling up parenting interventions: a handbook for decision-makers and implementers and the WHO Academy course Caring for children who have experienced violence.
Safety 2024 kicks off in Delhi, India on 2 September 2024 and provides an opportunity for the world's leading injury and violence prevention researchers, practitioners and advocates to share the latest evidence on and experiences from programmes which have demonstrated success.
