Firstly, we should draw attention to the blatant mismatch between the importance of the topic - from the point of view of the morbidity/mortality of children and adolescents - and the scarcity of studies dedicated to it. We should all pause to consider two important and detailed documents, published recently by the WHO and UNICEF, that reiterate what many people appear not to wish to see: that injuries are an enormous public health problem for children and adolescents(2,3). Table 1, based on data from WHO, speaks for itself: in the poorer countries of the Americas, external causes are responsible for 53% of the total burden of the 10 principal diseases among children from five to 14 years of age. Even including the first years of life, with all their peculiarities, the significance of injuries is remarkable. The UNICEF report, which is restricted to mortality, points out that 98% of child and adolescent deaths caused by injuries occur in developing countries, and highlights the following risk factors: poverty, young single mothers, mothers with low level of education, poor housing, large families, and use of alcohol and drugs by the parents(2). Further, according to The Global Burden of Disease report (a milestone in defining injury as a public health priority), external causes represent 15% of the global burden of death and disability, the Third World paying twice the toll. Furthermore, such rate is predicted to increase by 20% in the next 20 years. This is, therefore, very much our problem, and one which, despite all the bad forecasts, we continue to underestimate....
Language: pt
LA - pt SN - 0021-7557 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.2223/JPED.811 ID - ref1 ER -