Foreword: injury in Asia and the Pacific.

Abstract

the burden of death and disability worldwide was highlighted in 1997 with the release of the findings of the Global Burden of Disease Study. In 1990, injuries were estimated to account for 15% of the burden of death and disability worldwide, and the projected figure for the year 2020 is 20%. Of concern, is that a significant proportion of the burden of injury occurs in the low and middle-income countries in the Asia and Pacific region. For example, injuries are the leading cause of death from age 1 to 44 years in China accounting for approximately 750,000 deaths and 3.5 million hospitalisations each year. Much of the injury-related mortality and morbidity is due to road traffic injury which is not surprising, since motor vehicle production has tripled since the early 1990’s. The increase in mortality and morbidity reflects, in part, the epidemiologic transition that has been occurring across much of the country (and neighbouring countries) over the past two decades. Given the growing burden of injury in the Asia and Pacific region, the annual Australian Injury Prevention Network’s (AIPN) 6 National Conference on Injury Prevention and Control provided an opportunity to host a parallel meeting that focused on approaches to responding to the burgeoning incidence of injury in the region. The 1 Asia-Pacific Injury Prevention Conference held in Perth, Australia, between March 16 to 18, 2003 brought together researchers, practitioners, policy makers and advocates from Australasia and the Asia and Pacific for the first time. The conference provided an opportunity for an exchange of information about the magnitude of injury and its’ prevention in various countries including, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Laos, Cambodia, India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. Plenary papers were presented by leading injury prevention and public health professionals from the region including papers by representatives of the World Bank, UNICEF and the World Health Organization. In this supplement, we have selected a number of papers from the conference that illustrate the magnitude and types of measures for assessing the burden of injury, a number of the key risk factors for injury in the region, a promising intervention and the future of injury prevention in Asia and the Pacific. Rahman and colleagues present a timely paper on the magnitude of child injuries in Bangladesh. It is illustrative of the emergence of injury as a health priority throughout the region as improvements in living standards concurrently reduce the impact of infectious diseases. The rapid industrialization in China and other countries of the region, while bringing many health-related benefits also has a number of adverse consequences. Junhua et al. document the exponential increase in injuries in relation to motorcycle ownership and the need for preventive interventions. In contrast, Hall et al. present an Australian study that promotes cycle helmet use by children. It provides a timely reminder that well-planned interventions are urgently needed to stem the rapid growth in injuries especially among young people. An analysis of alcohol-related drowning in Australia by Driscoll and colleagues highlights the role alcohol plays in injury causation and Gururaj and colleagues illustrate the complexity of factors associated with intentional injury in their paper on suicides in India. An insightful paper by Hendrie and Miller provides an account of the relevant value of different measures of the burden of injury along with the usefulness of such measures in reflecting the true priority that should be accorded to injury prevention. The final paper by Scott in this supplement highlights that one of the challenges to injury prevention in the region is the lack of capacity. The aim of the conference was to raise awareness of the problem and foster partnerships and capac-