The first step in the development of a comprehensive injury prevention strategy was announced today by acting Minister for Accident Insurance Ruth Dyson.

A widely representative stakeholder reference group has been appointed to develop the strategy and ensure that it has good practical application in the community.

“The development of this strategy reflects this Government’s emphasis on prevention rather than managing the costs of the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, which was the approach of the previous government,” says Ms Dyson. “Clearly, costs become less of a problem if you can prevent injury from occurring in the first place.”

“Each year about 1700 New Zealanders are accidentally killed, and 125,000 people suffer moderate to severe injuries from accidents. This is unacceptable,” says Ms Dyson. “The importance of injury prevention has been neglected for too long. We aim to do something about it.”

The strategy will provide all government and non-government agencies involved in injury prevention with a national framework for policy development and services delivery. It will encourage cooperation across agencies with injury prevention policy development, information sharing and injury prevention activities. It will also identify the key priorities and objectives for injury prevention.

The Stakeholder Reference Group member are:

Dr Carolyn Coggan (chair - Director of the Injury Prevention Research Centre, University of Auckland), Kevin Bryant (training and education), Janferie Bryce-Chapman (older persons), Yvonne Cuthbert (road safety), Margaret Devlin (injury prevention practitioners), Bonnie Dowding (Pacific community), George Fairbairn (road safety), Dr Janet Fanslow (violence prevention), Corrina Gage (Maori community), Shelley Hanifan (child safety), Dr Ian Hassall (child abuse prevention), Paul Jarvie (workplace health and safety – employers), Bruce Mackie (suicide prevention), Gary Moller (sports injury prevention), Alan Muir (water safety), Tom Mulligan (Maori & sports injury prevention), Tony St Clair (workplace health and safety –employers/self-employed), Dr Bruce Scoggins (research funding), Carolynne Stone (local government), Sally Thompson (local government/community), Maevis Watson (workplace health and safety – employees), Ross Wilson (workplace health and safety – employees).

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