A new challenge to child and adolescent survival in urban Africa: an increasing burden of road traffic injuries

OBJECTIVES: To develop an epidemiological profile and present the burden of urban road-traffic injuries (RTI) in children and adolescents in urban Sub-Saharan Africa. METHOD: A systematic review of published and gray literature of children and adolescents < or =19 years old involved in RTI in urban regions in Sub-Saharan Africa from January 1980-December 2003. RESULTS: The mean annual incidence for urban road-traffic injuries was 109.8 per 100,000 children, and males were twice as involved as their female counterparts. Children between 10 to 14 years constitute the most frequent group involved in road crashes (36%) while pedestrians represent an average of 68% of all childhood RTI cases. Twenty Healthy Life Years per 1,000 children and adolescents are being lost annually in the region from RTI. CONCLUSIONS: There is an urgent need to develop a regional health research agenda to generate an accurate estimate of the burden of road-traffic injuries on children. This is a new challenge for child health and there is a need to raise awareness among policy makers to promote appropriate interventions.     

Household youth on minority operated farms in the United States, 2000: exposures to and injuries from work, horses, ATVs and tractors

INTRODUCTION: It is likely that youth living on minority operated farms (<3% of U.S. farms) face hazards similar to the general farm population; however, since minority youth are not well represented by general farm surveys, this information hasn't been confirmed. METHOD: Nonfatal injury and exposure data were obtained from the 2000 Minority Farm Operator Childhood Agricultural Injury Survey (M-CAIS). RESULTS: On racial minority farms, there were an estimated 28,600 household youth. Of these, about 41% worked, 26% rode a horse, 23% drove an ATV, and 23% operated a tractor. On Hispanic farms, there were an estimated 17,998 household youth. Of these, 44% worked, 30% rode a horse, 27% drove an ATV, and 25% operated a tractor. CONCLUSIONS: These results show the value of conducting a survey of minorities to identify high risk groups and target issues that may be unique to the minority farm population.