Child injury around the world: a global research agenda for child injury prevention

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF released the World report on child injury prevention in December 2008.1 The report emphasises that over 1 million children around the world die from injury, and that 19 of every 20 child injury deaths occur in the developing world. Investing in global injury research is a critical catalyst to prevent tens of thousands of deaths and injuries. High-income countries have reduced child injury rates by nearly half since 1981, galvanised by research to measure injury burden, identify causes, and shepherd investment into effective strategies to prevent, treat and rehabilitate injured children.1 In stark contrast, injury deaths in developing countries are unacceptably high and are likely to grow dramatically. More than 1 billion people do not have access to roads, but industrialisation is rapidly bringing children …