New National Efforts to Prevent Interpersonal Violence: World Health Organization Reports Significant Progress

New National Efforts to Prevent Interpersonal Violence: World Health Organization Reports Significant Progress

July 24, 2007

    GENEVA, July 24 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Governments
around the world are taking new and stronger measures to
quell interpersonal violence and its life-long health
consequences, a new World Health Organization (WHO) report
shows. This week in Scotland, two hundred of the world's
leading experts in preventing violence gather for
"Milestones 2007", to assess the advances that
have been made, identify strategies for further expanding
these, and advocate for increased investment by
international development partners. 
In the context of "Milestones 2007", the WHO
report documents progress in countries since 2002. Some of
the many highlighted national achievements include:- 

    (Logo:
http://www.xprn.com.cn/xprn/sa/20061102095006-51.jpg )

     -- Brazil has published its first national report on
violence and 
        health and has completed a national inventory of
over 300 violence 
        prevention programmes;
     -- Malaysia has released its first national report on
violence and 
        health, developed one-stop crisis centres for
victims of child 
        maltreatment, and created services for survivors of
intimate 
        partner and sexual violence in all government
hospitals 
        throughout the country;
     -- Mexico has published its first national report on
violence and 
        health and established a national centre for the
prevention of 
        violence and injuries within the Ministry of
Health;
     -- Mozambique has developed surveillance systems
recording details 
        of violence-related deaths and injuries and has
assessed the 
        number and quality of medico-legal services for
victims of 
        sexual violence; and
     -- The United Kingdom has published its first national
report on 
        violence and health, created the Violence Reduction
Unit within 
        the Scottish Executive, and has promoted the work
of the Cardiff 
        Violence Crime Task Group as a model for community
safety 
        partnerships nationwide. 

    "With an improved understanding about what works
to prevent violence in families and communities, the
violence prevention field has reached a critical turning
point", notes Dr Catherine Le Gales-Camus, WHO
Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and
Mental Health. "Milestones 2007 is an opportunity to
draw lessons from the good work being done in many
countries and define ways to scale up implementation in
countries around the world." 

    Increased efforts to scale up violence prevention come
when health policy makers and practitioners begin to fully
understand the long-term consequences of violence. 

    For instance, a 2004 WHO study reported that the
lifetime impacts of child sexual abuse account for
approximately 

     -- 6% of cases of depression; 
     -- 6% of alcohol abuse/dependence; 
     -- 6% of illicit drug abuse/dependence; 
     -- 8% of suicide attempts; 10% of panic disorders; and

     -- 27% of post traumatic stress disorders. 

    Other studies have also linked child physical abuse,
intimate partner violence and sexual violence to excessive
smoking, eating disorders, and high-risk sexual behaviour,
which in turn are associated with some of the leading
causes of death including HIV/AIDS, cancers and
cardiovascular disorders. 

    "Globally, the greatest challenge to scaling up
violence prevention efforts remains a lack of investment in
scientific, large-scale outcome evaluation studies,
especially from low- and middle-income countries, where
both the burden of violence and the cost of failure to
invest in effective prevention are highest", notes Dr
Etienne Krug, Director of WHO's Department of Violence and
Injury Prevention. "With those studies in hand, we
would be well placed to scale up and globalize
prevention." 

    Milestones 2007, is being hosted for the World Health
Organization by the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit in
Kincardine, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 17-19 July 2007.
It is the third in a series of meetings marking the
anniversary of the launch of the landmark World report on
violence and health released by WHO in 2002. 

    The report demonstrated the extent of the impact of
violence. In 2002 (the latest year for which global
estimates are available) an estimated 1.6 million people
lost their lives to violence; more than 90% of those deaths
are concentrated in low- and middle-income countries.
Physical, sexual and psychological abuse undermines the
health and well-being of many millions of people in all
countries on a daily basis. Suicide and homicide are the
5th and 6th leading causes of death in people aged 15-44
years. Between three and seven million adolescents and
young adults receive hospital treatment each year for a
violence-related injury. 

    "For the Violence Reduction Unit, the World report
on violence and health was a revelation, in that it offered
an innovative approach to the traditional methods of
policing violent crime," notes Detective
Superintendent John Carnochan, Head of the Scottish
Violence Reduction Unit. "We are pleased to host
Milestones 2007, and to share our experiences and learn
from others". 

    Evidence shows that a major proportion of
violence-related death and suffering is avoidable through
investment in positive approaches such as 

     -- parent training; 
     -- home visitation services; 
     -- reducing alcohol availability and access to
firearms; 
     -- helping high-risk adolescents to complete
schooling; 
     -- changing cultural norms that condone the use of
violence; and 
     -- providing adequate emergency medical care. 

    Cost-effectiveness studies show that most of these
strategies are less expensive to implement than paying the
costs of responding to violence. 

    In addition to showcasing some of the significant
violence prevention work underway around the world,
Milestones 2007 will serve as a platform for discussing
scaled-up country implementation of these recommendations,
and efforts to measure effectiveness using the outcomes
that really matter -- such as rates for violence-related
deaths, non-fatal injuries and other violence-related
health conditions.

    To read the report, entitled "Third Milestones of
a Global Campaign for Violence Prevention 2007", see: 
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2007/9789241595476_eng.pdf

    All press releases, fact sheets and other WHO media
material may be found at: http://www.who.int . 

    For further information, please contact:

    Laura Sminkey
    Technical Officer
    WHO, Geneva
    Tel:    [phone]
    Mobile: [phone]
    Email:  [e-mail]