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Huge Cost of Accidents

Injury Bill Hits $19.8 Billion a Year in Canada

Aug 19, 2009 Rupert Taylor

A new report puts a dollar figure on the human tragedy of accidents, many of which are preventable.

SMARTRISK is a national non-profit organization that works to prevent injuries and save lives. On August 18, 2009 the group released a report entitled “The Economic Burden of Injury in Canada.”

The 124-page document says that, “Injury costs Canadians $19.8 billion annually - more than $600 for each man, woman, and child in the country…In fact, injury - from falls, traffic, drowning, suicide, violence, and other means - remains the leading cause of death for Canadians aged one to 44, taking the lives of 13,667 people in 2004."

Human Cost of Accidents

Some of the numbers in the report illustrate the human pain and misery associated with accidents. In the year 2004:

  • 3.1 million people were treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries;
  • More than 210,000 Canadians spent at least one night in hospital;
  • 5,023 individuals were left permanently and totally disabled; and,
  • 62,563 were left with a permanent, partial disability.

“Suicide accounted for the most deaths, followed by transport incidents, then falls, while by far the greatest number of permanent disabilities resulted from falls.”

Most Injuries are Preventable

“The bottom line,” says the report, “is that injury is preventable through a combination of educational programs, environmental modifications, and enforcement mechanisms. Canadians need not spend nearly $20 billion each year in health care costs and lost productivity due to injury…

“We know when [accidents] strike and under what conditions. We know who is at risk and who is not, and we increasingly know what works and what does not with respect to prevention.”

There are plenty of examples of how this can happen. Better road design, campaigns against drinking and driving, seat belts and airbags, and graduated driving licenses have all combined to reduce traffic deaths. But much more remains to be done when more than 3,000 people a year die in road accidents.

Campaigns in favour of wearing helmets while cycling and playing hockey have saved many lives and reduced serious injuries.

The report points out that, “In the period 1995-2004, Canada’s annual death rate from injury decreased 10.9 percent.”

Coordinated Accident Prevention Programs Needed

SMARTRISK says that a “national injury prevention strategy and complementary provincial strategies can yield immediate and longer-term savings in both dollars and lives.

“Effective action to prevent injury will not eliminate these challenges but it can help to alleviate their impacts and the costly human and economic burden we all currently bear.

"Injuries can be prevented, lives saved, and a significant drain on our public resources stopped.”

One example might be in the area of unintentional poisonings, which killed 944 Canadians in 2004. Most of these occur when children ingest medications or chemicals that have not been stored in a secure location. Such terrible tragedies could be greatly reduced through comprehensive education programs.

The copyright of the article Huge Cost of Accidents in General Medicine is owned by Rupert Taylor. Permission to republish Huge Cost of Accidents in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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