2P-S1-4
SAFE KIDS: THE
VACCINE FOR UNINTENTIONAL CHILDHOOD INJURY
Martin R. Eichelberger, M.D.
Injury is the leading cause of death and disability for U.S. children aged 1-14 years. In 1997, approximately 6,040 children died from traumatic injuries. For each child injury death, there are 42 hospitalizations and another 1,120 children who seek care for treatment of injury. In fact, one in four U.S. children are treated for an injury each year. Nationwide, the leading cause of childhood injury death is motor vehicle related (automobile, pedestrians, and bicyclists), fires and burns, drowning, poisonings, falls, and firearm injuries. These unintentional injuries are also the leading cause of death to children worldwide.
Efforts
to prevent childhood injury have been hampered by the common notion that
injuries are “accidents”. While
injuries are often unintentional, they are both predictable and preventable. Injury prevention is commonly
considered in each of three phases: primary, secondary, and tertiary
prevention. Primary prevention is
the prevention
of potentially
injury producing events, such as lowering a water heater thermostat to 120
degrees F. Secondary prevention refers to devices
that mitigate the harmful transfer of energy, given that a potentially injury
producing event has occurred, e.g., the use of child safety seats. Tertiary prevention is the minimization
of functional disability, given that an injury has occurred, such as the establishment
of regional pediatric trauma centers.
The
National SAFE KIDS Campaign in the United States is a unique injury prevention
program. Overall, there has been a
35% decrease in childhood injury death rates since 1988, the inception of the
campaign. For example, during
Child Passenger Safety Week 2001, the campaign released the most comprehensive
review to date of our nation’s child occupant protection laws. “Child Passengers at Risk in America: A
National Rating of Child Occupant Protection Laws” revealed that most of the 50
states have gaps in their coverage – leaving children unprotected. Since February 2001 many states have
taken steps to improve their state child restraint laws. Eight states (Arkansas, Georgia,
Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Texas) have
passed stronger child passenger safety laws. At least 20 other states have pending legislation to do the
same. Many SAFE KIDS Coalitions
have been actively working to close the gaps in their state laws, which will
reduce the number of children who die on our nation’s highway.
The SAFE KIDS Vaccine is a successful, multi-disciplinary approach to
injury, combining legislation and enforcement, safe product design,
sophisticated media communications and creation of local community coalitions
to touch children and their families to prevent the most common cause of death
in childhood, preventable injury.