National workshop on preventing interpersonal violence, Nicosia, Cyprus, 17-18 January 2012

A two day national workshop on the prevention of interpersonal violence was hosted by the Ministry of Health of Cyprus with technical support from the violence and injury prevention teams of the WHO Regional Office of Europe and WHO Headquarters. Multidisciplinary stakeholders attending the meeting represented not only the health sector, but also the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.

The workshop consisted of lectures and group work sessions focusing on the role of the health sector in reducing the burden of interpersonal violence in the European Region, the situation in Cyprus, and the public health approach to interpersonal violence prevention in the areas of child maltreatment, youth violence, intimate partner and sexual violence and elder maltreatment. It closed with a wide debate on prioritizing local actions.

Stakeholders identified the need for a national action plan and strategy

Child maltreatment prevention was selected as the key area for action, and stakeholders identified the need for a national action plan and strategy. The intersectoral coordination committee is to be organized to coordinate actions and ensure data and information sharing between different disciplines and sectors. Participants underlined the importance of capacity building with training and workshops. It was stressed that the main roles for the health sector was to improve data collection, case identification and the service response for victims, as well as primary prevention and positive parenting involving health visitation, antenatal, child and school health services. A national action plan needs to be developed to ensure implementation. The recommendations from the workshop will be considered for ministerial support.