Citation

Kaafarani HMA, Raybould T, Lee J, Masiakos PT. Health Syst. Reform. 2015; 1(4): 257-262.

Affiliation

Department of Surgery ; Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School ; Boston , MA USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/23288604.2015.1110654

PMID

31519097

Abstract

Injury is the leading cause of mortality in people younger than 44 years of age. Injury prevention laws and policies are not only effective in saving lives at a population level but are also remarkably cost-effective compared to most public health interventions. For example, the implementation of a stricter Massachusetts Graduated Driver Licensing Law in 2007 resulted in a very significant and rapid decrease in the rates of motor vehicle crashes of teenager drivers, saved thousands of lives, and resulted in more than $10 million dollars savings in health care costs over 5 years. We therefore suggest that trauma and injury prevention should be made a priority in any attempt at local, regional, or national health system reform.

Language: en