Charity in all-out attack on child accidents

SAFE KIDS aims to reduce accidents

A new charity which aims to cut the number of accidental child deaths and injuries by 25% by the year 2010 is launched on Wednesday.

Accidents are the biggest cause of death and disability among children under 14 in the UK, according to the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) which is behind the charity SAFE KIDS Campaign.

Some 570 children a year die because of falls, road accidents or other incidents every year.

Just under two and a half million children ended up in hospital casualty units as a result of injuries sustained in accidents in 1997.

And the NHS spends £1.2bn a year treating unintentional injuries in both children and adults.

CAPT says parents wrongly believe meningitis is the biggest threat to their children.

Accidents kill five times as many children, it says.

A CAPT poll shows 58% of parents rated meningitis one of their greatest fears, followed by drugs and abduction by strangers.

CAPT says this reflects media coverage, but shows how little attention childhood accidents get.

While 49% of parents fear their children being abducted by strangers, onlly 390 were actually kidnapped in 1997.

This compares with 2.36m children who visited casualty departments because they had been injured in an accident.

Couch potatoes

The SAFE KIDS campaign aims to highlight the problem, while at the same time encouraging children to participate in healthy actitivies.

CAPT is worried that fears about accidents and crime only spur parents to keep their children inside, turning them into "a generation of living room-bound couch potatoes".

SAFE KIDS will act as a bridge between many different organisations involved in promoting child health and safety, including local authorities, teachers and the NHS.

It wants hospitals to monitor better injury rates from accidents, local and health authorities to review the needs of children and schools to conduct safety audits.

It says that, while the NHS may promote accident prevention and healthy living, and local authorities can implement environmental improvements, such as safe cycle routes, it is often down to schools and parents to get children active.

SAFE KIDS, based on a popular US campaign, hopes to make child safety a priority and aims to set up branches in every region of the UK. Thirteen pilot projects are already in place.

The charity is being launched on Wednesday by public health minister Tessa Jowell.

She said: "Injury prevention is a public health priority. In the public health strategy, Our Healthier Nation, the government outlined its target to reduce the rate of accidents by 20% by the year 2010.

"I welcome the launch of the SAFE KIDS campaign which will help us to achieve this target and protect children from injury."

SAFE KIDS campaign chair, Carol Sheriff, said: "We're issuing a Call to Action, uniting children, parents, public and private sector organisations in our mission to increase healthy, safe activity and to improve the number of places in which children can have fun."

Safety on wheels

In its first year, the charity will focus on safety on wheels, promoting safer cycling, skateboarding, roller skating and in-line skating.

This will include a focus on the importance of wearing safety equipment such as cycle helmets.

CAPT says only 43% of children wear a helmet when cycling, 24% when roller skating and 21% when skateboarding.

Most say they "can't be bothered" to wear one, although CAPT says a helmet can reduce the risk of brain injury in an accident by 85%.

Some cyclists groups disagree with this, saying the evidence is weak and that environmental changes, such as creating more cycle routes, would prevent more injuries.