The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations created in 1948 with the primary responsibility for international health matters and public health. The WHO Regional Office for Europe is one of six regional offices throughout the world, each with its own programme geared to the particular health conditions of the countries it serves.

The deaths and injuries caused by preventable incidents such as road traffic accidents, drowning, poisoning, falls, fires, self-inflicted injuries and substance-abuse related violence have significant human, financial and other costs to society. It is estimated that about 800,000 people in Europe die from injuries every year, and this is the leading cause of death for people aged under 45 years. Using an evidence based approach, this publication examines the scale of the problem, the risk factors and related socio-economic and regional inequalities involved. It considers options for a public health policy framework designed to promote injury prevention through a multi-sectoral response across all levels of government and society throughout the WHO Europe region.

Injuries are a leading cause of death and disability in children. This report presents evidence on how they can be prevented and calls for greater commitment and action from policy-makers and practitioners to decrease the burden. Every year, unintentional injuries kill nearly 42,000 children and young people under the age of 20 in the WHO European Region. Injuries are the leading cause of death among those aged 5-19 years, and 5 out of 6 of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Irrespective of country income, the burden falls disproportionately on children from the most disadvantaged groups. The leading types of unintentional injuries are road traffic injuries, drowning, poisoning, burns and falls. All injury types have similar main causes and socioeconomic and environmental determinants. Children are particularly vulnerable to injuries and need special consideration to safeguard their rights to health and safe environments, free from injury. This report, companion to the World Report on Child Injury Prevention, presents the evidence on both the great potential for injury prevention and the effectiveness and value for money of measures already in use in European countries with low injury mortality. It shows why health systems and particularly programs for child health throughout the WHO European Region should give priority to preventing and controlling child injury.

Resource added for the Health Navigator program 105392.

​This book, published in cooperation with ESSKA, is a comprehensive, evidence-based manual on the prevention of injuries and overuse in sports that will assist physicians, physiotherapists, and trainers in providing excellent mental and physical guidance to athletes. The causes of overuse and sports injuries are carefully analyzed, explaining the medical basis for prevention. In addition, detailed attention is paid to the relationship between sport motivation, risk willingness, tendency to overload, and tendency to increased risk of injury. The reader is effectively trained in mental and physical analysis of the athlete and will gain an appreciation of the influence of the athlete’s environment on susceptibility to injury. Gender-specific differences and the specific risks faced by children and adolescents are identified, and very popular sports such as soccer, alpine skiing, and throwing sports are discussed in individual chapters. Training schedules of value in the context of particular physiotherapeutic and medical interventions are described with the help of illustrations and charts. The authors are team physicians, coaches, sports scientists, training scientists, and physiotherapists involved in high-performance sports and recreational sports.

Child injuries are largely absent from child survival initiatives presently on the global agenda. Through this report, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and many partners have set out to elevate child injury to a priority for the global public health and development communities. It should be seen as a complement to the UN Secretary-General's study on violence against children released in late 2006 (that report addressed violence-related or intentional injuries). Both reports suggest that child injury and violence prevention programs need to be integrated into child survival and other broad strategies focused on improving the lives of children. Evidence demonstrates the dramatic successes in child injury prevention in countries which have made a concerted effort. These results make a case for increasing investments in human resources and institutional capacities. Implementing proven interventions could save more than a thousand children's lives a day.--p. vii.