Accidents kill 2,000 children worldwide every day: WHO
10/12/2008 16:28
More than 2,000 children were killed in accidents or died of unintentional
injury every day, while tens of millions of children were left with life-long
disabilities every year, a latest report of the World Health Organization (WHO)
and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says.
"Unintentional injuries
are the leading cause of childhood death after the age of nine years and that 95
percent of these child injuries occur in developing countries. More must be done
to prevent such harm to children," a press release of Manila-based WHO Western
Pacific Regional Office quoted UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman as
saying today.
She said the World Report on Child Injury Prevention, done by
collaboration of 180 experts around the globe, finds road crashes, drowning,
burns, falls, and poisoning are the top five causes of injury
deaths.
According to the report, as the leading cause of death among 10- 19
year-olds, road accidents kill 260,000 children every year while injuring about
10 million.
Africa has the highest rate overall for unintentional injury
deaths. The report finds the rate is ten times higher in Africa than in
high-income countries in Europe and the Western Pacific such as Australia, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and the United Kingdom, which have the lowest
rates of child injury.
"Child injuries are an important public health and
development issue. In addition to the 830,000 deaths every year, millions of
children suffer non-fatal injuries that often require long-term hospitalization
and rehabilitation," said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan.
She said
children in poorer families and communities are at increased risk of injury
because they are less likely to benefit from prevention programs and high
quality health services.
The report said such tragedies can be reduced by
half by the implementation of a string of precaution measures that include laws
on child-appropriate seat belts and helmets, separate traffic lanes for
motorcycles or bicycles, redesigning nursery furniture, toys and playground
equipment and strengthening emergency medical care and rehabilitation
services.
Xinhua
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