Using Policy to Strengthen the Reach and Impact of Injury Prevention Efforts

Injury prevention and control remains a key priority in public health and medicine. Across all age groups and regardless of the measure used, injury is a leading cause of morbidity and death with tremendous costs to society. When considering the burden and scope of injuries, in the United States (U.S.) and elsewhere, injury prevention remains an important but under-resourced health concern. Some specific injury prevention topics, such as road safety, have received the necessary attention and resources to have a significant impact. Investments made early led to the creation of tools and surveillance systems to track motor vehicle crashes and have made it possible to evaluate interventions and new policies. These tools and resources, combined with the fact that it is easy to understand and convey the scope and dynamics of motor vehicle crashes have made it a top injury prevention priority. 13-15 However, these tools and resources are not available across all injury areas. It is important, however, when discussing the success of road safety, to recognize the contributions made by technological advances, policy initiatives and legislation. In particular, there have been many innovative technological advances such as airbags, car and booster seats for children and interlock devices that prevent impaired driving in addition to other features that improve the safety of passengers and drivers. While other areas of injury prevention can also benefit from technological advances, their relevance and applicability vary greatly across topics. More importantly, the largest successes in reducing motor vehicle crashes have stemmed from policy changes inspired by technological advances and new research findings documenting effective prevention strategies. Specifically, the implementation of primary restraint laws, graduated driver licensing and laws that prevent and reduce impaired driving have significantly reduced injuries and deaths due to motor vehicle crashes. With motor vehicle injuries we know what to do, we know what works, and we know that doing the right thing saves lives and money. This is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has selected motor vehicle injuries as one of their public health priorities and labeled it a " Winnable Battle. " 19 We need more " winnable battles " in injury prevention and using policy as an effective strategy to drive change may be one of the most important tools available to us. Overall, the field of injury prevention lags behind other health topics in its strategic use of policy. Therefore, a more …