Injury prevention action programme
The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Decision adopting a Community action programme on injury prevention in the context of the framework for action in the field of public health, to run from 1999 to 2003. The five-year action programme is aimed at reducing the number of injuries in key areas, with the emphasis on accidents involving children, young adults and elderly people, and suicide. The proposed activities are geared primarily to more effective dissemination of information and the application of prevention techniques whose worth is widely accepted by experts. The consequences of home and leisure accidents are a matter of great concern at Community level. There are 20 million victims each year in the European Union, with three million people being admitted to hospital and 300,000 suffering after-effects or disability, while 100,000, including 10,000 children, die each year. The overall cost of such accidents is estimated at ECU 6 billion. Instances of suicide and attempted suicide are rising steadily. On current figures, 43,000 people take their own lives and more than 700,000 attempt suicide each year in the European Union. The Commission is seeking to prevail upon the governments of the Member States to do all they can to reduce the incidence of avoidable injury, disability and death, focusing particularly on premature death. The proposal will be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council for their joint decision. The action plan will address a number of key areas such as accidents to children, young adults and elderly people, and suicide. These areas have been selected because they constitute a major source of avoidable injury and death, and are capable of delivering Community added value by stimulating new projects and innovative measures, bringing together and complementing work done within the Member States.