An eight-year campaign to promote child safety had not reduced the number who died or were crippled through injury, Deputy Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Minister Dam Huu Dac said in Hanoi yesterday.
The deputy minister, who was speaking at a workshop to discuss the development of a national child safety programme for the next 10 years, said child safety remained an urgent issue.
Although the 2002-10 national programme could boast many achievements the high number of victims continued.
It meant a greater effort from the relevant ministries, agencies, international organisations and the entire society was required to staunch the toll.
"A strong nationwide prevention network was needed to reduce fatalities and disability among children in Vietnam," he said.
Child injury was not only put the survival of children at risk, it also led to poverty and was the barrier to the development of the young, said the ministry' Child Protection and Care department deputy director Nguyen Trong An.
The Asian Development Bank estimated that Vietnam's economy lost VND30 billion (US$1.59 million) each year to first aid, treatment, rehabilitation and fewer working hours because of death and disease.
Recommendations
World Health Organisation, Vietnam, representative Jean-Marc Olive told the workshop that the number of child deaths and injury showed the need for a national safety programme with clearly defined strategies and interventions.
The prevention of drowning required urgent action, he said.
The WHO representative argued: "Allocation of sufficient human and financial resources is essential to the success of any programme."
He suggested a public-health approach to child injury prevention ranging from surveillance, risk- factor identification and development and evaluation of interventions.
Quality data systems were also essential to identify problems; design solutions and interventions and to evaluate effectiveness of programmes.
But Vietnam's data systems were limited and health ministry data had limited capture, classification and comparison with all cause details and variables.
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) deputy representative, Vietnam, Jean Dupraz, said the programme needed to be evidence-based and updated with the latest data and information so key issues could be prioritised and addressed.
"The programme should set feasible objectives with measurable indicators and be co-ordinated and steered by a functioning inter-sector committee with representatives from relevant ministries, agencies and mass organisations," he said.
Deputy Education and Training Minister Tran Quang Quy emphasised the need to raise public awareness and provide the skills to reduce injuries and accidents among pupils.
Swimming lessons; the development of a healthcare network, the strengthening of the checking and monitoring of documents to prevent injury in schools were also required.
| Death toll on the rise The number of deaths from injury among children and adolescents under 19 in Vietnam jumped from 6,938 in 2005 to almost 8,000 in 2008. Drowning was the major cause of death followed by road accidents, falls, burns, poisoning and animal bites. The Health Ministry puts the number of adolescent deaths from injury in 2007 at 7,894. Drowning accounted for 48 per cent of the fatalities and road accidents 28 per cent, it says. The high number of drownings is attributed to Vietnam's abundance of rivers, lakes and ponds as well as natural disasters such as floods and typhoons. An estimated 830,000 children throughout the world die each year, about 2,000 each day, as the result of unintentional or accidental injury. |
