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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