Prevention of Children’s Injuries in the Czech Republic - Twenty Years of Experience

Overview

The study deals with development in the prevention of children’s injuries in the Czech Republic over the lasttwenty years. Injuries represent the most serious public-health problem of the child age. Injuries occupy the firstposition in the causes of child mortality and their medical, social, psychological and economic consequences areenormous. The evolution of prevention in the Czech Republic was preceded by isolated activities of enthusiasts anda certain success was recently reached. A working group dealing with the problems of children’s injuries wasfounded at the Pediatric Society of Czech Medical Society J.E.P.; Center of Epidemiology and Child InjuryPrevention was founded; epidemiological studies were started and the World Health Organization Project - SafeCommunity, aimed at injury prevention at the community level began to evolve. The problem of injury preventionbecame a part of postgraduate education of medical personnel. The originally isolated activities graduallydeveloped into interdisciplinary collaboration and reached a national level within the framework of National Dayswithout Injuries.

Key words:
children’s injuries, prevention, development