DISTINGUISHED FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES; LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
Violence and unintentional injuries kill someone every 30 seconds in the Western Pacific Region.
That translates into 1.2 million deaths per year.
Whether from road traffic or self-inflicted injuries, falls, drowning, poisoning or interpersonal violence, the magnitude of this issue is staggering.
Violence and unintentional injuries represent nearly 25% of the global injury burden.
Road traffic injuries kill more than 900 people a day in the Region, making them the leading cause of injury death.
Overall, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 44 — who tend to be more economically active.
As we look at ageing issues, we see that fatal falls kill more than 380 people each day in the Region. About two out of three of those killed are older than 60 years of age.
Among children between the ages of five and 14, drowning is the leading cause of death, with 33 000 such cases each year.
Every year in the Region, more than 11 000 women and children are murdered, while more than 16 million women suffer violence at the hands a partner.
These numbers show the urgent need for health and justice systems that can effectively respond to the physical, sexual and mental trauma resulting from this abuse.
In overall terms, more than 90% of fatal injuries and violence occur in low- and middle-income countries.
In places where they can least afford it, the already high burden of injuries and violence is predicted to increase, unless sustained preventive action and coordinated responses are undertaken.
Perhaps more crucial to the overall burden of injuries are the many nonfatal outcomes that leave people with disabilities. For example, road traffic crashes are estimated to result in more than 50 million nonfatal injuries each year in the world.
Despite this alarming data, policies and actions around the world do not match the scope of the problem.
Policy-makers may believe that prevention of injuries is too difficult and that injury deaths are an inevitable consequence of economic development. This attitude would explain why the majority of those affected are poor, vulnerable and marginalized.
As a Region, we can do more…. We must do more.
In 2012 at the sixty-third session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, Member States resolved for the first time that further action is required to prevent and respond to violence and injuries.
Major barriers exist to scaling up prevention, control and response to injuries and violence in many countries in our Region. We must strengthen political commitment and investment for evidence-based national policies and programmes — even though major donor support is scarce.
Research clearly demonstrates that violence and injuries can be prevented. The health sector must play a crucial role in contributing to, supporting and — in some cases —leading multisectoral responses to violence and injuries.
WHO continues to recommend a public health approach to violence and injury prevention. Creating epidemiological profiles, identifying risk factors and determining the impact of interventions all begin with quality data systems that efficiently capture injury events.
This consultation is the first step in a larger, longer-term regional engagement for the prevention of violence and injuries.
Your participation in discussions and deliberations over the next three days will guide WHO's strategic engagement with each of your countries and agencies.
Violence and injuries are preventable. They need NOT be the enormous public health problem they are at present.
Together, let us work towards solutions across sectors to achieve safer, healthier and happier communities across the Region.
Thank you.