Unintentional injury

Québec WHO Collaborating Centre for Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention :Activity Report 2006

The Centre is composed of a group of public health institutions in Quebec under the scientific coordination of the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) that, as part of its mission, establishes links with various organizations at the national and international level to promote cooperation and the sharing of knowledge.

The mandate of the WHO Collaborating Centre was renewed until 2010. In keeping with its mission, the objectives of the action plan and the collaboration initiatives already undertaken, the Centre will, insofar as it is able and its expertise allows, participate in the implementation of initiatives pertaining to the WHO strategy for the prevention of violence and unintentional injuries.

The Collaborating Centre hopes to play a more important role in violence prevention and also in the evaluation of the impact of public policy on individual safety. It is interested in achieving broader collaboration with northern and southern French-speak…

Centre collaborateur OMS pour la promotion de la sécurité et la prévention des traumatismes

Public Health Advisory on the Effects of Cell Phone Use While Driving, with Recommendations

From a public health perspective, there are still far too many road victims due to collisions that are mostly preventable: 704 deaths and 6,397 serious injuries, according to the SAAQ (2005). Their road safety statistics covering the five years from 2000 to 2005 show a general upward trend in Quebec. Indeed, the number of victims killed rose by more than 9% between 2004 and 2005, and serious injuries rose by 14.2%. In the hospital network, this represents an average of more than 4,000 hospitalizations per year (INSPQ, 2006).

The significant gains achieved over the last twenty years are mainly due to programs aimed at reducing the incidence of driving while impaired by alcohol (DWI), entrenching the use of seatbelts, and encouraging the construction of safer vehicles. However, several factors that have not been approached in the same way are currently reducing road safety in Quebec. Generalized disregard for the legal speed limit on the entire road network as well as driving…

Testimony of the Institut national de santé publique du Québec to the Board of Review Inquiring into the Nature and Characteristics of Baby Walker

The Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) is participating in the inquiry by appearing before the Board, submitting evidence and making representations.

The INSPQ is affected by the Order of the Governor in Council, which prohibits the advertising, sale or importation of baby walkers within the meaning of section 9 of the Hazardous Products Act, for the following reasons: The INSPQ is an organization that was created in June 1998. It is a public health expertise and reference centre for Quebec. Its goal is to contribute to the advancement of knowledge and to propose intersectoral strategies and actions to improve population health and well-being. Trauma is a particular area of focus for the INSPQ. Since baby walkers represent a major safety issue, any legislative change that is likely to increase access to these products is of the highest concern to us. Moreover, the INSPQ attaches particular importance to one of the objectives of Quebec's national public hea…

Québec Collaborating Centre for Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention - Activity Report 2005

The Québec WHO Collaborating Centre (CC) for Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention, established in 1995, comprises institutions in the Québec public health network, i.e. four regional public health branches (Montréal, Montérégie, Capitale-Nationale and Bas-Saint-Laurent), the Direction générale de la santé publique in the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, and the Institut national de santé publique du Québec.

Within their respective mandates, these organizations run promotional activities on safety and prevention of intentional and unintentional injuries. These activities cover various fields of intervention such violence and suicide prevention as well as safety promotion and injury prevention in urban environments, in transportation, in residential and in recreational and sports activities.

Centre collaborateur OMS pour la promotion de la sécurité et la prévention des traumatismes

Road Speed: Health Impact and Counteractive Measures

Speeding is a widespread phenomenon and is not confined solely to a small group of delinquent drivers: between 50% and 80% of Québec drivers exceed the legal speed limit. The problem is equally rampant in cities, on rural roads and highways. Excessive speed does not refer solely to driving well over the posted speed limit or very fast, which are rather marginal phenomena. The problem's source is, by and large, from less extreme but more frequent excess speed.

Despite more frequent issuing of speeding tickets in Québec, drivers perceive the risk of being arrested as low. Little systematic, sustained intervention has been implemented to date to counteract speeding, as has been the case to counteract drinking and driving, a comparable problem.

Health issues

The international literature has thoroughly demonstrated the link between the speed of motor vehicles and the risk of collision and injury. Indeed, speed is a contributory factor in all cases of mortal…

Québec WHO Collaborating Centre for Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention : Activity Report 2003-2004

The Québec WHO Collaborating Centre (CC) for Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention, established in 1995, comprises institutions in the Québec public health network, i.e. four regional public health branches (Montréal, Montérégie, Capitale Nationale and Bas-Saint-Laurent), the Direction générale de la santé publique in the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec, and the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (see Appendix 1). Within their respective mandates, these organizations run promotional activities on safety and the prevention of intentional and unintentional injuries. These activities cover various fields of intervention such violence and suicide prevention as well as safety promotion and injury prevention in urban environments, in transportation, in residential and in recreational and sports activities.

In 2002, WHO adopted a safety promotion and injury prevention action plan and renewed the Centre’s designation for the period 2002-2006. The…

Centre collaborateur OMS pour la promotion de la sécurité et la prévention des traumatismes

Québec WHO Collaborating Centre for Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention - Activity Report 1995-2001

Le Centre collaborateur OMS du Québec pour la promotion de la sécurité et la prévention des traumatismes est formé d'un ensemble d'institutions du Réseau de la santé publique du Québec, soit quatre directions régionales de santé publique (Montréal-Centre, Montérégie, Québec et Bas-St-Laurent) ainsi que de la Direction générale de la santé publique du ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec et de l'Institut national de santé publique du Québec. En vertu de leur mandat respectif, ces organismes mènent des activités de promotion de la sécurité et de prévention des traumatismes intentionnels et non intentionnels.

Québec WHO Collaborating Centre for Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention - Activity Report 2002-2003

Le Centre collaborateur OMS du Québec pour la promotion de la sécurité et la prévention des traumatismes est formé d'un ensemble d'institutions du Réseau de la santé publique du Québec, soit quatre directions régionales de santé publique (Montréal-Centre, Montérégie, Québec et Bas-St-Laurent) ainsi que de la Direction générale de la santé publique du ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec et de l'Institut national de santé publique du Québec. En vertu de leur mandat respectif, ces organismes mènent des activités de promotion de la sécurité et de prévention des traumatismes intentionnels et non intentionnels.

 

Prevention of scalding and legionellosis cases associated to hot tap water in private homes

This notice responds to a request from the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (department of health) of Québec. It is the result of the concerted efforts of two teams within the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (national institute of public health): the “Biohazard, environmental and occupational risks” team wrote the “legionellosis” section, and the “Safety and injury prevention” team wrote the “scalding” section.

Based on an analysis of the scientific literature and the data available in Québec, the Institute believes that preventing tap water scalds is as important as preventing legionellosis. These problems have similar consequences from a public health perspective and in both cases there are well-known, effective or promising prevention measures.

Trauma and deprivation in Quebec

Studies show a relationship between social inequality and intentional and unintentional trauma (Marmot et al., 1999; Leclerc et al., 2000). This relationship is poorly understood in Quebec, however, since data on trauma is derived primarily from administrative files (for death and hospitalization), which contain no information on the socioeconomic status of trauma victims.

The recent development of a deprivation index that can be used with these files enables us to at least partially fill this information gap (Pampalon et al., 2000). In this brief paper, we seek to determine whether material and social deprivation is associated with death and hospitalization due to intentional and unintentional trauma in Quebec.

In Quebec, material and social deprivation are strongly associated with trauma. While UT (mostly road traffic accidents) is affected by material deprivation, IT (suicide and homicide) is affected in equal measure by the social and material components. Social…