Prevention of injuries to children and young people: the way ahead for the UK.

Injury in children and young people is not inevitable. Accidents and the injuries that result from them, are not chance events. Patterns of injury can be identified that reflect a person’s age, the environment in which children and young people live, and the activities in which they are engaged. Greater understanding of the causes of injury can help us in the development of eVective preventive strategies. Opportunities to prevent injuries occur through a range of educational, environmental, and legislative approaches. We need to fully mobilise these opportunities to save lives and improve the health of children and young people in the UK. When one considers the worldwide public health importance of injuries to this age group, it is surprising that only a small number of potential interventions have been rigorously evaluated. Moreover, of those with proven eYcacy, many prevention measures have been poorly implemented. But there are a number of interventions that we know to be eVective and others that have the potential to be eVective. In this chapter, we attempt to distill the essence of injury prevention by first providing an overview of the broad approaches. We then discuss the specific interventions and methods that have been shown to be eVective. The broader context of policies and cultures that aVect injury are then set out. Finally, we pull together the strands to consider what is still required for more eVective preventive action in the UK.