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Brussels, 23 June, 2006: The Communication from the Commission of the European Communities to the European Parliament and the Council on Actions for a Safer Europe (COM/2006/0328) (CELEX-Nr. 52006DC0328) identifies the reduction of injury mortality and morbidity as a major challenge for the Community. The fulfilment of this vision requires that Member States acknowledge the challenges of injury prevention and place injury prevention and safety promotion higher on their public health policy agenda.
The Communication highlights the role of the health sector in:
- quantifying the size and impact of injuries in our society;
- disseminating evidence-based strategies
- outreach and capacity building
Quantifying the size and impact of injuries in our society
The Commission is extending the current network for data collection and exchange, called the Injury Data Base (IDB). The aim of IDB is to provide all stakeholders with the best available information about the magnitude of the problem including high-risk population groups as well as major risk determinants and risks linked to certain consumer products and services. A next step will be the development of a clearinghouse that is accessible to all stakeholders and that provides the latest state of art information on injuries in Member States. This will provide tools for benchmarking on the performance of countries as well as major trends within the EU.
Disseminating evidence-based strategies
The Commission encourages all Member States to create national plans for injury prevention. Such plans should serve as a framework for actions that engages the relevant partners and stakeholders and defines institutional responsibilities and should be based on good practices in safety promotion.
This exchange of information should be governed by scientific expertise and quality and shall be evidence based. The information will be made widely accessible to all Community actors and include links with public web sites such as EuroSafe's website.
Outreach and capacity building
Effective communication puts people in a position to make safer choices. The Commission intends to support campaigning efforts in Member States on seven priority issues:
- Safety of children and adolescents;
- Safety of elderly citizens;
- Safety of vulnerable road users;
- Prevention of sports injuries;
- Prevention of injuries caused by products and services;
- Prevention of self-harm;
- Prevention of interpersonal violence.
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