Citation

Ward E, McCartney T, Brown DW, Grant A, Butchart AR, Taylor M, Bhoorasingh P, Wong H, Morris C, Deans-Clarke AM, East J, Valentine C, Dundas S, Pinnock C. West Indian Med. J. 2009; 58(5): 446-451.

Affiliation

Violence Prevention Alliance, Jamaica, The University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies. ward@kasnet.com

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, University of The West Indies)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

20441064

Abstract

This report describes the application of a draft version of the World Health Organization (WHO)/ United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Manual for estimating the economic costs of injuries due to interpersonal and self-directed violence to measure costs of injuries from interpersonal violence. METHODS: Fatal incidence data was obtained from the Jamaica Constabulary Force. The incidence of nonfatal violence-related injuries that required hospitalization was estimated using data obtained from patients treated at and/or admitted to three Type A government hospitals in 2006. RESULTS: During 2006, direct medical cost (J$2.1 billion) of injuries due to interpersonal violence accounted for about 12% of Jamaica's total health budget while productivity losses due to violence-related injuries accounted for approximately J$27.5 billion or 160% of Jamaica's total health expenditure and 4% of Jamaica's Gross Domestic Product. CONCLUSIONS: The availability of accurate and reliable data of the highest quality from health-related information systems is critical for providing useful data on the burden of violence and injury to decision-makers. As Ministries of Health take a leading role in violence and injury prevention, data collection and information systems must have a central role. This study describes the results of one approach to examining the economic burden of interpersonal violence in developing countries where the burden of violence is heaviest. The WHO-CDC manual also tested in Thailand and Brazil is a first step towards generating a reference point for resource allocation, priority setting and prevention advocacy.

Language: en