JH-IIRU Director Publishes Editorial on the Neglected Burden of Injuries in LMICs

Injury prevention work is not currently fulfilling mandate of a true public health approach in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). That’s the proposal from JH-IIRU director, Adnan Hyder, who recently published an editorial in the journal, Injury, on the lack of attention paid to injuries as a global health burden.

More than 90% of deaths from injuries occur in LMICs, yet even within the health and development sectors, there is a lack of attention being paid to this burden. To this end, Dr. Hyder proposes that a re-conceptualization of injuries as a “complex, global health issue” that needs both human and financial resources as a prerequisite to preventing more lives lost is a necessity.

Dr. Hyder goes on to propose six potential solutions which can help to re-position injury prevention in the developing world on the global health agenda, including stronger and newer collaborations that involve both health and non-health sectors, capacity development over a range of functions such as research and policy development, as well as policy-friendly evidence to help convince decision makers and donors the importance of allocating funds and resources to injury prevention interventions.

The publication coincides with the annual Global Road Safety Week which has been mandated by the United Nations to raise awareness of the issue of road traffic injuries to a global level.

Read the editorial here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020138313000533

“Injuries in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Neglected Disease in Global Public Health,” an editorial, can be found in the May 2013 issue of Injury.