Child injury prevention
Children are not able to take care of their own safety, so it is important to increase the level of safety in public places
Challenges
According to the Center of Electronic Health of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in 2017, 1,283 children in Kazakhstan died from external causes, whereof 801 were boys and 482 - girls. One of the most common causes of injuries are: road accidents, falls, drowning and burns. 449 children died from burns/fires while it is noted that children aged 15 and older are at the greatest risk. In addition, 27,702 children were treated in the hospital due to injury.
Child injury is one of the social problems not only for Kazakhstan, but also for many countries in the world. This is reported by the high mortality rate of children from injuries. According to the world report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF on the prevention and evaluation of child injuries, 830,000 children die every year in the world, and tens of millions become disabled because of injuries.
In 2018, UNICEF in collaboration with the Information and Analytical Center of the Committee on Statistics of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MNE RK), conducted a survey among parents and guardians of children aged 0-14 on subject of knowledge, attitude and practice on unintentional child injuries. The survey results illustrate that only 15.7% of parents have smoke detectors at home, only 38% completed the first-aid course, and 30% of parents use a mobile phone while driving. Among the most of parents’ concern potential places and causes of injuries were injuries in yards, injuries associated with kitchen, household and electrical appliances, and injuries in road accidents. Unfortunately, in Kazakhstan, children from 0 to 1 year old are left unattended on average for 10 minutes, children aged 1-2 years old – for 16 minutes, children 2-3 years old – for 33 minutes and children 3-4 years old – for 41 minutes.
According to the report “Children in the city: study of Almaty friendliness to the child” prepared by Urban Forum Kazakhstan and UNICEF, 52% of parents of adolescents aged 11–17 consider cars and traffic to be the main source of danger (2018).
Solutions
The UNICEF programme on prevention of child injury is implemented through the interdepartmental interaction of health, education, emergency prevention and response sectors and internal affairs.
The program aims to bring the child injury monitoring system in line with international standards. Another goal is to identify and understand the root causes and most frequent places of child injuries as well as to identify the most vulnerable children. This allows improving of the planning of political and legislative measures and effective implementation of preventive measures.
In 2018, UNICEF analyzed the situation with child injuries in Kazakhstan. In partnership with the Center for Electronic Health of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the system of monitoring child injuries was improved by more detailed age and gender-specific indicators and adding causes and place of injuries. In collaboration with the Information and Computing Center of the Committee on Statistics of the MNE RK, UNICEF conducted a study on knowledge, attitude and practice on child injury issues.
Together with the Republican Center for Teacher Training, resources were developed for teachers and teachers of pre-school educational organizations, children and parents with training was conducted in Almaty schools.