Title: THE ALLIANCE FOR SAFE CHILDREN (TASC)

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Section/SPIG: International Health

Issue Date:

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Michael Linnan, a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologist and current medical director of TASC, gave a very forward-looking presentation at the International Health luncheon at APHA last November on the importance of the epidemic of child injury in economically challenged countries of the world. Presenting data from six Southeast Asian countries from the Philippines all the way to Bangladesh, Linnan documented that drowning is the leading cause of death for children under the age of five in every one of these countries. By the teenage years road traffic accidents are the leading cause of death in developing countries. And yet, child injury remains largely unaddressed in most low- and middle-income countries. The feedback on the luncheon presentation from IH members has been very positive on this alarm-bell presentation.

At this writing, results from a TASC-sponsored national survey in Bangladesh are in press. This data firmly documents that injuries are the leading cause of death in Bangladesh and that drowning is the leading cause of death of children under five. The researchers examined the data from Matlab over the past 30 years, which records that there have been no reductions in drowning deaths during these three decades. IH Section members will be informed when this publication is available.

On March 10 the president of TASC, Ambassador Pete Peterson, presented the 3rd Jeffrey P. Koplan Global Leadership in Public health Lecture at CDC in Atlanta. His topic was: “Child Survival: Why it Must Include Injury Prevention.” CDC Director Julie Gerberding, two former CDC directors, and a large number of Global Health and Injury Prevention staff attended. Gerberding told Ambassador Peterson during extensive private discussions that CDC clearly recognizes this gap in preventive child health and assured him that CDC intends to move forward with proactive interventions.