A league table of child deaths by injury in rich nations.

The second issue of the Innocenti Report Card focuses on child deaths by injury in the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It presents a standardized league table ranking 26 of the worlds richest nations according to their injury death rates for children aged 1-14 years. Data indicate that intentional and unintentional injuries have become the leading causes of child deaths in all of the OECD countries accounting for almost 40% of deaths in the age group of 1-14 years. It shows that traffic accidents intentional and unintentional injuries drowning falls fires poisonings and firearm accidents kill more than 20000 children every year in these countries. Although proven strategies for the prevention of most of these injury-caused child deaths exist these strategies have yet to be implemented in a comprehensive and consistent way and with well-informed emphasis on those most at risk.