Preventing children accidents and improving home safety in the European Region, Report of a WHO expert meeting, Bonn, 30-30 May 2005

Abstract
The meeting had the objective to review and take an inventory of existing data collection mechanisms on domestic accidents in Europe, focusing primarily on children’s accidents and the related housing causes, particularly the dwelling type and condition. The meeting assembled experts from a variety of countries in which home accidents surveillance systems exist. In the first and second part of the meeting selected experts from the participating countries and institutions presented data collection mechanism and procedures focusing on the risk and protective elements of children domestic accidents, in particular on the available evidence on dwelling features and characteristics of the immediate housing environment.

The third part of the meeting aimed at the identification of the available prevention strategies, based on the review and discussion of some existing national action plans for the prevention of children’s domestic accidents. During the last session of the meeting the participants formulated a first set of recommendations for the prevention of domestic accidents, both from a methodological and a political point of view and formulated some possible fields of action for the future accident prevention.