Health promotion conference in Estonia focuses on injury prevention
"Every injury is preventable" was the title of this year's annual health promotion conference in Estonia, held on 8 June 2012.
Minister of Interior Ken-Marti Vaher opened the intersectoral conference, which provided an overview of injury prevalence and harm in Estonia as well as possibilities to prevent unintentional injuries. Despite significant efforts and improvements in injury prevention in recent years in Estonia, the country is still among the group of countries in which external causes of death are the most common.
Success stories in injury prevention in Estonia and other countries were presented at the conference. Other topics included:
- road safety
- prevention of intoxication
- leisure- and sports injuries,
- drowning and fires
- creation of safe environments
- responsibilities in violence prevention.
The conference concluded with a panel discussion on the next steps in injury prevention. Panel members were the Minister of Social Affairs, Hanno Pevkur; Member of Parliament and former Minister of Social Affairs, Marko Pomerants; and the Director of the Association of Municipalities in the County Viljandimaa, Jaan Looga.
The health promotion conference was organized by the National Institute of Health Development, the WHO Country Office in Estonia, the Estonian Insurance Fund, Ministry of Social Affairs, Estonian Health Promotion Union, Ministry of Justice, Police and Boarder Guard Board, Road Administration and Rescue Board.
