Injury Prevention and Care : An Important Public Health Agenda for Health, Survival and Safety of Children

Injuries affect the lives of thousands of young people and their families each year in India. With the gradual decline of communicable and nutritional diseases, injuries will be a leading cause of mortality, morbidity and disabilities and the success achieved so far in child health and survival is in jeopardy. Available data indicate that among children less than 18 y, 10–15 % of deaths, 20–30 % of hospital registrations and 20 % of disabilities are due to injuries. Based on available data, it is estimated that injuries result in death of nearly 1, 00,000 children every year in India and hospitalisations among 2 million children. Road Traffic Injuries (RTI’s), drowning, falls, burns and poisoning are leading injury causes in India. Drowning and burns are major causes of mortality in less than 5 y, while RTIs, falls and poisoning are leading causes in 5–18 y. A shift in the occurrence of suicides to younger age groups of 15–20 y is a matter of serious concern in recent years. More number of males, those in rural areas, and majority of poor income households are affected due to injuries.

Child injuries are predictable and preventable. Children have limitations of size, development, vision, hearing and risk perceptions as compared to adults and hence are more susceptible and vulnerable to injuries. Thus, it is important to make products and home – road and school environments safer along with greater supervision by parents and care givers. The key approaches include vehicle and product safety, environmental modification, legislation and enforcement, education and skills development along with availability of quality trauma care. Child injury prevention and care requires good quality data, building human and financial resources, strengthening policies and programmes based on evidence and integrated implementation of countermeasures along with monitoring and evaluation. Child injury prevention and control is crucial and should be an integral part of child health and survival.