For the Safety of Canadian Children and Youth is the first book of its kind in Canada. In one document, it brings together relevant data from various Canadian sources on childhood fatalities, hospitalizations and emergency room visits due to injury and poisoning.
The death and hospitalization rates for most types of injuries among children and youth under the age of 20 are declining, but injuries are still the leading cause of death and account for about 1 hospitalization in 6. For the period 1990-1992, the mean number of annual deaths related to injury in this age group was 1,542 and the mean number of hospitalizations approximately 81,000. There were about 53 hospitalizations for every death.
Many injuries are still occurring in seemingly safe situations. For example, more than 1 in 5 injuries among those under 20 occurred in and around homes, and these injuries accounted for 44.8% of all injury cases recorded for this age group in the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP).
Sixteen of the 18 chapters in For the Safety of Canadian Children and Youth deal with certain types of injury (e.g. drownings, burns, choking) and are written by one or more experts in the field. The remaining chapters provide general overviews. Data are presented and analyzed, risk factors are identified, and recommendations for preventive strategies are suggested.
Data provided by Statistics Canada and CHIRPP account for much of the information. Production of the book supports Health Canada`s stated priority of strengthening Canada`s public health intelligence capability. Furthermore, it is hoped that by using CHIRPP data in this way, For the Safety of Canadian Children and Youth will help achieve CHIRPP's aim: to contribute to the reduction in the number and severity of injuries in Canada.
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