Safekids Calls On Government To Invest In Safety
Following today’s international release of The World Report on Child Injury Prevention, Safekids New Zealand and other
global child safety organisations are banding together and calling for Governments to recognize unintentional childhood
injuries as a major public health issue, and make a cost-effective investment in child safety.
According to The World Report, 950,000 children and young people die annually worldwide, with unintentional injuries
accounting for almost 90% of these cases.
In the 2007 UNICEF Innocenti Report Card, New Zealand is ranked last (24th out of 24) among Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in preventing child injury related deaths.
“The common view in New Zealand and around the world that unintentional injuries are mere accidents is unacceptable. If
a disease were killing our children at the rate that unintentional injuries are, the public would be outraged and demand
that governments stop this global killer,” said Ann Weaver, Director of Safekids New Zealand.
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