Volume 183 - Issue 4
A picture of Australia’s children
Authors: George C Patton, Sharon R Goldfeld, Indrani Pieris-Caldwell, Meredith Bryant and Graham V Vimpani
Med J Aust 2005; 183 (4): 223-224. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb07016.x
Published online: 15 August 2005
Published online: 15 August 2005
George C Patton,* Sharon R Goldfeld,† Indrani Pieris-Caldwell,‡ Meredith Bryant,§ Graham V Vimpani¶
* VicHealth Professor of Adolescent Health Research, Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3052; † Paediatrician and Research Fellow, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne; ‡ Senior Analyst, § Project Officer, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra; ¶ Clinical Chair in Paediatrics, University of Newcastle, NSW. george.pattonATrch.org.au
In reply: There is little to disagree with in this excellent summary of injury morbidity and mortality in Australian children. However, the principal point of our editorial1 was to highlight important problems where adequate data are currently unavailable.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report was able to give extensive coverage to injuries and accidents in children.2 Indeed, seven indicators specifically addressed aspects of childhood injury, with a range of others (eg, child abuse and neglect, neighbourhood safety) addressing relevant aspects of the family and social context. This emphasis reflected not only the importance of childhood injury, but the extent to which reasonably good data are available.
We agree that, despite some favourable mortality trends, the burden of childhood injury remains high, as are associated health care costs. However, childhood injury is an area where advocacy has translated into action.3 One of the reasons for the success of that advocacy has been the availability of sound data, both to make the case and to ensure an appropriate focus in policy responses.4 While there is undeniably much more to do, we can learn much from injury prevention about how to tackle the newly emerging problems of childhood.
References
- Patton GC, Goldfeld SR, Pieris-Caldwell I, et al. A picture of Australia’s children [editorial]. Med J Aust 2005; 182: 437-438.
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. A picture of Australia’s children. Canberra: AIHW; 2005. Available at: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10127/ (accessed Jul 2005).
- Strategic Injury Prevention Partnership (SIPP). The draft national injury prevention plan: 2004 onwards. Canberra: SIPP, 2004. Available at: http://www.nphp.gov.au/workprog/sipp/documents/draftnipp_190804_000.pdf (accessed Jul 2005).
- Pointer S, Harrison J, Bradley C. National injury prevention plan priorities for 2004 and beyond: discussion paper. Injury Research and Statistics Series Number 18. Adelaide: Australian Institute for Health and Welfare, 2003. (AIHW Catalogue no. INJCAT 55.) 0_CFAGDFHF