Citation

Chinnock P. Inj. Prev. 2005; 11(2): 66.

Affiliation

Managing Editor, Cochrane Injuries Group. paul.chinnock@lshtm.ac.uk.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/ip.2005.008375

PMID

15805432

PMCID

PMC1730189

Abstract

The Cochrane Collaboration is an international network but the editorial base of the Cochrane Injuries Group (CIG) is in Britain and we are exposed to the British media's current "take" on injury prevention. Road traffic injuries may be the biggest killer but, so we are told, the public worries more about violent crime. One cause of violence that is currently under the spotlight is binge drinking. In recent years there has been a change in British drinking culture and some city centres can indeed resemble a battlefield on a Friday or Saturday night. However, the media revels in its exaggeration of the scale of the injury problem this causes, focusing inevitably on injuries from violent attacks rather than on unintentional injuries caused by drunks to themselves or others.