Government urged to include health in all policy formulation

Governments need to include a health aspect in all policy formulation.

In what is dubbed "Health in all policies" approach, there will be a possibility of analysing the health implications of policies that are formulated.

In her presentation during the ongoing 12th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion in Tampere, Finland, Franscesca Racioppi of World Health Organisation (WHO)'s European Regional office said, "A safety in all policies framework could help integrating safety into sectoral policies such as those of transport, infrastructure, housing, leisure, entertainment, sport, justice, education, labour, social services, and industry."

Racioppi also noted that that these call for 'whole-of-government' and 'whole-of-society' approaches alongside system approaches.

Every day violence and injuries take the lives of more than 14 000 people. Experts gathered for conference are sharing the latest evidence and experiences from prevention programmes which have demonstrated dramatic success in saving lives.

Injuries caused by violence, road traffic crashes, falls, drowning, burns and poisoning, among others, kill more than five million people every year, accounting for one of every ten deaths in the world.

These and other injury-related causes are among the many addressed by Safety 2016 under the theme "From research to implementation".

Globally, of injury-related deaths, 24 per cent are due to road traffic crashes; 16 per cent from suicide; 14 per cent from falls; ten per cent from homicide; and seven per cent from drowning. Only about two per cent of injury-related deaths result from war and conflict.

Violence and injuries affect all age groups, but have a particular impact on young people and those in their prime working years. For people 15-29 years of age, three injury-related causes are among the top five causes of death: road traffic injuries (1st), suicide (2nd) and homicide (4th).

Beyond deaths tens of millions of people suffer injuries that lead to hospitalization, emergency department visits, and treatment by general practitioners. Many are left with temporary or permanent disabilities; violence and injuries are responsible for an estimated 6% of all years lived with disability.

"We need to step up action to avoid this unnecessary suffering of millions of families every year," notes Dr Etienne Krug, Director of the WHO Department for the Management of Non-communicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention. "Safety 2016 provides an opportunity for the world's leading violence and injury prevention researchers, practitioners and advocates to discuss and share successful strategies which if scaled up across countries could do much to prevent violence and injuries and save lives."

Preventing violence and injuries will further attainment of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through which world leaders have recognized injuries as urgent priorities for action. A number of SDG targets relate specifically to violence and injuries, including targets 3.6 to cut road traffic deaths by 50% by 2020; target 5.2 to end violence against women and girls; target 11.2 to provide safe and sustainable transport; and target 16.2 to end violence against children.

Effective strategies to prevent violence and injuries include setting and enforcing laws on a range of issues from speeding and smoke detectors to hot water tap temperatures and window guards, among others; reducing the availability and harmful use of alcohol; limiting access to firearms, knives, pesticides and certain medications; implementing vehicle and safety equipment standards; installing barriers controlling access to water, including wells and swimming pools; and improving emergency trauma care. These are all strategies where both national and local government officials from across multiple sectors can play a role.