ipp newsletter - issue 12 - european...

IPP Newsletter, Issue Number 12, 2004 1

EU Injury Prevention Programme

Issue 12 - 2004

Springtime in Luxembourg

Exactly one year after the Information Day on the launch of the Public Health Programme 2003-2008, around the first day of spring again, DG SANCO in-formed about the second Work Plan and Call for Proposals of the Programme. The Call for Pro-posals 2004 has been opened on the 27th of February and will be closed on the 26th of April 2004. From the injury prevention field the Information Day 2004 on the 22nd of March 2004 was attended by Prof. Eleni Petridou, Dr. Wim Rogmans and Claudia Körmer, mainly to hear about the Commis-sion’s priorities for the Accidents and Injuries Working Party in the different strands of the work plan. For Strand I, Health Information (responsible head of unit at Directorate C: J. F. Ryan) and Strand III, Health Determinants (M. Rajala), Horst Kloppenburg listed the following areas of interest:

• Identification and operation-alisation of accidents and injuries indicators for the set of European Health Indicators

• Burden of accidents and injuries

• Road injuries from a public health point of view

• Prevention measures in re-gard to falls among the elderly

Regarding the Accidents and Injuries portfolio already mapped out in the 2003 Work Plan, an additional evaluation task this time will be to synchronise old and new projects along the Programme’s overall priority plan

and time frame. The following projects under the 2003 Work Plan will cover 2004, 2005 and partly also 2006:

• Maintenance, Development and Promotion of the Hospital Survey for the IDB (Injury Database) in the current and enlarged EU (information strand)

• EUropean Network for Safety among Elderly (EUNESE): development and action planning for Injury Control and Safety Promotion among Senior Citizens (prevention strand)

• CSAP Child Safety Action Plans (prevention strand)

Matching the two lists in respect to gaps and overlaps two things are noticeable. In the information strand the specific Accidents and Injuries priority of data collection and data process-ing (IDB) is foreseen until 2006 and could be taken up again in the 2005 Work Plan. In the prevention strand a possible 2004 project targeting the elderly would have to be well matched with the ongoing EUNESE project from 2005 onwards.

All eggs in one basket

As with the last set of propos-als for the 2002 Work Plan, the Commission Services advised all interested parties to join forces in their field of expertise in order to increase the impact and chances of their applications. From the procedural point of view, this year, also the revised application

forms of the 2004 Call for Propos-als seem more supportive to the idea of a package of projects in one application compared to prior forms.

For the group of experts in the field of Accidents and Injuries the

Contents……

News from the Secretariat

News from the Secretariat... 1

EuroSafe: the European Coal-ition for Public Health Action on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion………..…. 4

Reflections on the Injury Data-Base (IDB): An interview with Knut Kroepelien….…….. …. 4

Tourist accidents in the European Union: an invisible problem…………………….. 6

Data collection in Malta: An interview with Dr. Renzo Pace Asciak……………….... 8

Using the Injury DataBase: an interview with the IDB Help-desk:……....………………. 10

IPP Projects at a glance: a new overview……………... 11

Update: 7th World Confer-ence on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion…….…… 12

Agenda: …………………… 13

NEWSLETTER I P P


designated co-ordinating secretariat of the Working Party, lead by Prof. Eleni Petridou from the University of Athens, volunteered to facilitate this process - which by the time you read this article will hopefully be already success-fully completed. In the view of the Working Party Secretariat having to co-ordinate and dis-seminate the results of all ongoing projects, it seems a logical step for it to also take on board the organisational and financial responsibility for a “basket-proposal” of EU injury prevention experts (contact: Ms. Stephanie Anastasopoulou,[email protected]).

A safe basket

Parallel to this internal call for proposals for a concerted 2004 Work Plan application of the EU injury prevention community another call was issued: an invitation to the same audience to join EuroSafe, the European Coalition for Public Health Action on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion. EuroSafe is a new

initiative of the European Con-sumer Safety Association (ECOSA) and has been estab-lished as a working group that operates under the legal and financial responsibility of ECOSA. Read more about the mission of EuroSafe in the article on page 4 of this newsletter by Dr. Wim Rogmans, director of ECOSA (European Consumer Safety Association), who is now translat-ing an idea that has already been around for some years into policy.

Spoiling the party

Only a few months ago, on the 11th and 12th of December 2003, more than 30 experts from all over Europe attended the first Accidents and Injuries Working Party under the new Public Health Programme. For some of them it may prove to be their last. Up until now, SANCO C2 has been granted an exemption from the rule that the Commission Services can reimburse only up to 20 experts. However an exemp-tion has not been granted this

time and may not be granted in the future.

As a consequence of this recent announcement, only current project leaders, some national data administrators (NDA) and some experts from Accession Countries will be reimbursed. Member State representatives may participate only on a non-paid basis as observers.

Obviously this is not a very promising signal in the year of EU expansion and we still hope for a solution that would be more appropriate to the number of eligible countries for the Public Health Programme; i. e. 29 in the 2003 Work Plan, and hopefully 31 in the next one when Lithuania and Bulgaria will have joined the Programme.

For the moment for the remaining Working Party it seems imperative to increase contacts to unrepresented Member States through the Network of Compe-tent Authorities and informally, not only for the sake of transpar-

At the Party (from left to right). Standing: Joanne Vincenten, María Seguí-Gómez, Veronika Benesova, Maria Kunderova, Alessio Pitidis, Baltazar Nunes, Claudio Detogni, Vincent Kennedy, Nick Dessypris, Costas Antoniades, Marta Malinowska-Cieslik, Jan Deconinck, Wim Rogmans, Horst Kloppenburg, Rupert Kisser, Renzo Pace Asciak, Jerzy B. Karski, Marc Nectoux, Anke König, Marianne Perez, Mateja Rok Simon, Anne Lounamaa, Maria Bényi, Yolande Wagener, Anne Mette Tranberg Kejs. Squatting: Bertrand Thélot, Helmut Friza, Lothar Schelp, Eleni Petridou, Jautrite Karaskevica. Hiding (in alphabetic order): Delia Alexe, Stephanie Anast, Robert Bauer, José Alexandre Diniz, Uwe Ewert, Constantine Frangakis, Ole Henriksen, Athena Kakavouli, Claudia Körmer, Pieter Kramers, Jean-Phillipe Maquestiaux, Lucia Masiero, Ciara O’Shea, Eileen Williamson.


ency but also for the sake of Member State integration.

The Mandate to Party

Member State integration at the Working Party level is also indispensable for fulfilling the main tasks that are stated in the Mandate for the Working Party on Accidents and Injuries, namely, to contribute to the development of a sustainable injury monitoring system and to evaluate, bench-mark and diffuse national „good and best practice“. A further task, “assisting in co-ordinating with other priority areas”, shall con-tribute to an inter-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach; this in turn shall help to avoid duplica-tions and to create synergies in public health at EC level. The Mandate of the Working Party on Accidents and Injuries was adopted at the meeting on 11th and 12th of December 2003: This can be found at: aakkkkaaaaaaaa (http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_determinants/environment/IPP/ev_20031211_en.htm).

Most “mandated” tasks are common to all seven Working Parties of the Public Health Programme. A singularity of the Working Party on Accidents and Injuries, however, is data collec-tion and data processing. This will for sure prove to be a very challenging task as it asks for maintaining and even expanding an existing monitoring system without formerly available direct funding and without a clear legal basis.

Nevertheless, the ambitious goal is to establish the current

IDB (Injury Database, former EHLASS and ISS) as the leading data source for injury prevention at EC and Member State level. The Working Party meeting on 28th and 29th of April 2004 will feature a special session about the utility of DG SANCO’s Injury Database and the National Data Administrators’ (NDA) role in it’s promotion.

Quick and (not) dirty - Task Force operation

In order for the Commission Services to get a quick policy recommendation from the Working Party without any administrative delay the Mandate also foresees the ad-hoc imple-mentation of so-called task forces. These task forces – working on voluntary basis with travel refund only - may also consult experts outside the Working Party to aid them in the production of key accounts on pressing public health issues that will not need or cannot await the elaboration of a respective multi-annual project.

In the December 2003 meeting of the Working Party on Accidents and Injuries three ad hoc task forces were actually created: one on Road Injuries (co-ordinated by Rupert Kisser), one on Injury Indicators (Birthe Frimodt-Møller) and one on the Burden of Injuries (Prof. Eleni Petridou). Whereas the recom-mendations of the Indicators Task Force will be mainly addressed towards the ECHI group (i. e. the Indicator Working Party), the other task forces, by the end of 2004, are supposed to present

memoranda on road injuries and the burden of injuries to the European Commission and the Member States.

Summertime in Athens

Athens is not only preparing for the long awaited and truly historic Olympics this summer but also for the co-ordinating Secretariat of the Working Party on Accidents and Injuries. Not everybody is sure about the former, but for the latter we are sure that our Greek colleagues will live up to their ambitious plans for the future of the Acci-dents and Injuries field in the Public Health Programme. If we may speak here on behalf of the whole Working Party we would like to wish them good luck and success and we will offer every support we can give.

P.S.: No. 12 is the last issue of the “IPP Newsletter”, a “tradition” that was initiated by the Dutch IPP Secretariat and continued by the Danish and also the Austrian Secretariat, even if the name IPP was already obsolete when our term started in 2003. We hope that the “IPP Newsletter” was not only a good tradition but also informa-tive and sometimes even interest-ing. At this occasion we’d like to thank Justin Cooper, the “IPP Newsletter” editor, for doing most of the work, all project-leaders and interview-partners for their contri-butions and all readers for their attention. And certainly we are all looking forward to the next issue of the “Accidents and Injuries News” or whatever it may be called.

See page 12 for more information


A new initiative

EuroSAFE is a new initiative of the European Consumer Safety Association (ECOSA), and has been established as a working group that operates under the legal and finan-cial responsibility of ECOSA. Its objective is to facilitate partnering for joint proposals for research and action, involving dedicated research and safety promotion institutes around Europe.

Following the recent call issued to the injury prevention community to join EuroSAFE, I am pleased to announce that 38 institutions in 22 countries have already registered. This is ex-tremely encouraging in creating a united European front to work towards building sustainable public health action in the field of injury research and prevention.

As already mentioned in the opening article of this Newsletter, the incoming Secretariat of the Working Party on Accidents (University of Athens, Greece) is voluntarily facilitating the submis-sion of a concerted package of proposals for the 2004 Work Plan.

In accordance with this devel-opment, EuroSAFE will, in its infant period, principally function as a ‘think-tank’ for the genera-tion of proposals in the PHP and other funding programs.

The experiences gained during this first half year should help strengthen en cement the coali-tion to help her achieve and fulfil her future objectives and activities for the 2005 and following Work Plans. These are as follows:

Objectives

• Exchange of information on European and national public health programmes for injury research and prevention;

• Facilitate partnering for joint proposals for research and action (for EC-funding and other funds);

• Produce statements on issues relevant to injury prevention and public health policy;

• Carry out joint projects for research and action on behalf of ECOSA (with partner- and EC-funding).

Activities

• Maintenance of an up to date membership list and additional background information on members (who is who);

• The dissemination of regular up-dates on PHP and other applicable programmes for

injury research and prevention in Europe;

• A n a l y s i s o f relevant policy issues and the issuing of research statements on behalf of the coalition;

• Identification of gaps in knowl-edge and practices, and devel-opment of priorities for research and prevention in the frame-work of public health policies;

• Identification of relevant collaborative projects, its funding opportunities and, in case of a contract, its imple-mentation;

• Development of a European Research Programme for injury prevention and safety promotion.

For the complete terms of reference please go to the ECOSA website (www.ecosa.org). Mem-bership registration is still open, therefore if you have not already done so, please respond now to our invitation to register as a member of EuroSafe, the European coalition for public health action on injury re-search and prevention.

The more European countries that are represented in EuroSafe, the stronger our voice will be.

by Wim Rogmans

EuroSafe: the European Coalition for Public Health Action on Injury Prevention & Safety Promotion

Reflections on the Injury DataBase (IDB): by Knut Kroepelien

comprehensive, systematic and continuous effort is needed to develop a suitable knowledge base as an essential tool for policy makers…….consumers also require accurate data on the safety of goods and services to make informed deci-sions».

Knut Kroepelien is a Nor-wegian seconded national expert (SNE) working for The European Commission, DG SANCO, Unit B3, Product and service safety.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of DG SANCO.

Data on accidents and injuries

Data on accidents and injuries is a key element in sound policy-making for product and service safety. In the Consumer Policy Strategy 2003-2006 it is empha-sised that «consumer policy needs to be backed by relevant information and data in order to adjust policies and priorities in the most appropriate ways. A more


In particular data are needed for :

1. the assessment of new policy initiatives on safety of ser-vices,

2. the prioritisation of standardi-sation under the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD),

3. the prioritisation in market surveillance of products under the GPSD and

4. ex-post assessment of the functioning of the GPSD

The IDB is the only source for such accident and injury data at European level. Improved data on product safety was in fact one of the core objectives of the estab-lishment of the IDB back in 1986. In principle the IDB is therefore unique and highly valuable. Unfor-tunately however, in practice the present IDB is only capable of giving very broad indications of the magnitude and type of inju-ries related to products and services. Let me explain this a bit more in detail :

Product area

In the product area one can identify products that have a high number of registrations in the IDB, but a report by the Sicher Leben Institute (SLI) highlights the inherent limitations. The present categorisation of prod-ucts is not optimal, the coding of product involvement is unclear and inconsistent and the narrative insufficient to develop preventive strategies.

For example, the most used coding for products is “other product” (22%), the practice when indicating product causa-tion varies considerably from country to country and in most cases the accident is not further described at all. The proposals in the SLI report to improve the situation should now be followed

up in practice so that it would be possible to draw solid conclu-sions on the characteristics of product-related injuries in Europe.

Services area

In the services area, the IBD has not been able to produce useful, coherent data. This is due to the fact that the involvement of a service provider is not a parameter in the present coding.

The injury data collection does not make a clear distinction between products and services nor between services and situa-tions where the injured person acts on her/his own initiative. Such distinctions may seem too sophisticated, but they are essen-tial for policymaking in the area because of the limitations of the legal basis which restricts Com-munity powers to consumer situations.

The issue was highlighted by the Commission in a report in 2003 and the Council has con-firmed that a poor knowledge base is a major obstacle for sound policymaking in the area.

Other areas of concern

Just as important as these specific issues is of course the need to maintain and increase the quantity of the data and to further improve their representativity (population catchment). More stringent reporting requirements must be balanced against the danger of even more Member States opting out of the IDB. This is a real dilemma. It is crucial that several of the new Member States find it possible to partici-pate in the system and that no additional existing Member State opt out.

Improvements in recent years

Despite all these reservations it should be recalled that the IDB

has seen some considerable improvements over the last couple of years. Standardisation of reporting and quality manage-ment systems have been essen-tial to make the data comparable at all. In the coming years demon-stration of the usefulness of data from the IDB for potential users, including the Commission itself, will be crucial. In the same way as with data collected in the environmental area or for traffic safety, communication of results must be done in parallel with improvements in quality. Other-wise the enthusiasm of data providers will fade away.

The plan of the coordinator of the national data administrators, SLI, to produce regular online information from the IDB is an initiative that could promote the system and bridge the gap be-tween the enormous amounts of raw material and operational policy indications. Furthermore the improved co-ordination be-tween national data administra-tors will serve as a stimulus for feedback in the system.

In 2006 the IBD will be 20 years old. The teenager will have to become an adult by then, proving its potential.

For more information please contact Knut Kroepelien at: [email protected]

References

1. COM(2002)208 final

2. Directive 2001/95/EC

3. Sicher Leben, Preventive Products Safety Analysis, hints on risk minimisation in product design by exploration HLA (EHLASS) Data Analysis, IPP - JO C 208 22/07/99, IPP/2000/1069, 2003

4. COM(2003)313 final


Tourist accidents in the European Union: an invisible problem

The European Union is the leading tourist destinations in the world, accounting for over 40% of arrivals and receipts in non-domestic world tourism. It is clear that no one wants to have to worry about safety while on holiday, but accidents and injuries do occur. Despite growing con-sumer demands on the quality and safety of travelling and of destinations the scope and the patterns of tourists accidents remain to be essentially an invisi-ble problem.

A project team from Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and The Netherlands tried to shed some light on the „Scope and Patterns of Tourist Accidents in the European Union“ in the framework of the Injury Preven-tion Programme of the European Commission. Justin Cooper, Editor of the „IPP Newsletter“, spoke with Claudia Körmer and Robert Bauer from the Austrian Institute „Sicher Leben“ about the main findings of the study.

Could you please elaborate on the main objectives of this study?

In addition to it’s resident population of 375 million, the current 15 EU Members States temporarily host a total of almost 300 million tourists, 70% of which are EU citizens. In coun-tries like Austria the non-domestic tourist population is more than double the size of the resident population. But very little is known about the accompany-ing risks of tourist activities.

Therefore, the main aim of this study was to quantify the scope and to describe the pat-terns of tourist injuries in the EU, in order to provide a more con-crete target for both public health and consumer safety action. This included an inventory of relevant data and reports and a critical

analysis existing EU injury moni-toring systems. In addition, we did a supplementary “Tourist Injuries Survey“ using the French and Austrian EHLASS, and we attempted a review of interna-tional “good practice” in tourist injury prevention.

I s t h e r e a c o m m o n understanding of what actually represents a tourist accident?

Tourist injuries were defined by “country of residence” of the injury victim. Thus, non-domestic tourists, originating from another country than the one the injury took place in, were only consid-ered. Even with this restricted definition we faced mayor difficul-ties in obtaining relevant data. Data on injuries of tourists were sought from practically all Mem-ber States, but this was in most cases unsuccessful. Only with the local knowledge of the pro-jects partners we were able to set “spot lights” on tourist mor-tality in Austria, France and Greece (covering around 30% EU-15 tourism) and on tourist morbidity in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and The Netherlands (covering around 50% EU-15 tourism).

What were your most interest-ing and, maybe alarming, discoveries in your study on the scope of tourist accidents?

The most alarming finding is that mortality risk from injuries seems to be highly increased in non-domestic tourists as com-pared to the resident population of the destination country. The overall tourist injury mortality was found to range between 130 and 200 fatalities per 100.000 person-years of exposure. In contrast, the average injury mortality in the EU-15 is about 40 of per 100.000 residents. This means that hardly noticed by the public and public

health authorities an estimated number of 3.800 tourists die on vacation in the EU-15 each year. And this means that injuries account for up to 30% of all tourist fatalities in Europe.

What are the causes for this dramatic death toll among tourists?

Almost three quarters of fatalities among tourists are caused by traffic accidents. Obviously, the mayority of these accidents must occur while travelling to or from the holiday destination. All inherent problems of car driving seem to be aggre-vated by the unfamiliar circum-stances of long distance car-ride. A clear and urgent target for international traffic safety.

Also recreational activities like swimming, mountain hiking and skiing rank high on the scale of risky actitivities during vacation. Thus, drownings, heart-attacks and injuries from falls account for most of the remaining quarter of tourist fatalities in the EU. An-other clear target for international injury prevention.

Who is at risk? Everbody, or are there risk groups that could be especially targeted?

In general, adults account above average for tourist injuries at all levels of monitoring [ermergency visits, hospital admissions, fatalities]. Children and the elderly tend to have a lower share of injuries in the non-domestic tourist population than their peers in the resident popula-tion. In a pointed conclusion and with the focus on the prevention of fatalities, male tourists aged between 25-64 from Germany, United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Italy could be named as main target groups for international tourism risk management. The


main settings have already been mentioned; in epidemiological terms these are road traffic for male tourists aged between 25-44, and sports, namely swim-ming, skiing, mountain hiking, also for male tourists but aged between 44-64.

It seems that these patterns of tourist injuries largely reflect the patterns of holiday activities in the EU and of EU holiday-makers. But unfortunately, the level of detail in the available injury data does not allow for a more detailed characterisation of target groups.

What do we need to account more appropriately for tourists in injury monitoring?

The spotlights on tourist injuries from the current study produced some interesting and valuable results. However, due to the paucity of respective data no systematic overview about inju-ries of tourists in the EU can be produced to date. Amendments

DG SANCO] should link with the Safety and Security Network of World Tourism Organisation for the implementation of the so called Safety and Security in Tourism Manual. This manual calls for partnerships between governments and industry related to risk management and sustain-able tourism.

The challenges for tourism in the era of expansion of the Euro-pean Union are good reasons to tackle the problem of “tourism and injuries” now.

For more information please contact Mag. Claudia Körmer

Institute "Sicher Leben"

Ölzeltgasse 3, 1031 Vienna

Tel: + 43 (0) 1/ 715 66 44 Dw 164

Fax: + 43 (0) 1/ 715 66 44 Dw 30

E-mail:

[email protected]

Website: www. sicherleben.at

to the existing national and EU injury monitoring, like the inclu-sion of Country of Residence, would be a first step in order to enable the Commission and the Member States to examine personal risks to travellers in more detail. With a respective amendment of the Injury Data-base, the former EHLASS, DG SANCO has at hand a unique tool for it to play a lead role in interna-tional Tourism Safety.

What kind of international co-operation do you conceive to promote the safety of tourists in the EU?

Most initiatives in injury pre-vention in potential tourist do-mains do not effectively address non-domestic tourists. This may be due to the lack of respective evidence or due to marketing priorities.

In order to enhance action in this it is recommended in the study that the Commission [DG Enterprise, DG Transport and the

Nothing under control in tourist safety - injury risk has alarmingly increased among non-domestic tourists


Dr. Renzo Pace Asciak is a Consultant of Health Information and Head of the Department of Health Information in the Maltese Ministry of Health.

Is there a system, however, small or restricted, already in operation in Malta to collect data on accidents and how important is it that Malta joins the IDB system?

First of all one has to answer the question of whether acci-dents and injuries are important? One only has to look at national statistics and see that this do-main is very significant as it is a major cause of prolonged ab-sence from work, morbidity, disability and premature mortality.

Malta does not have an acci-dent and injury surveillance sys-tem but statistics on traffic acci-dents are available. Considering that Malta is an island with a population of 397,296 (end 2002), it is a matter of concern that there were about 14,000 traffic accidents in 2003 and 1295 casualties. Around a quarter of these casualties were grievous amongst them 19 fatalities. 32% of traffic accidents were in the 15 to 24 years age group and 8% in those aged less than 15 years (passengers and pedestrians, not drivers).

Malta joins the European Union on 1st May 2004 and this will be one of the most important milestones in our history. It is an historic moment for all Europe whereby all the 25 Member States (MS) will be in one union. Turning back to the realm of health information, Europe should have harmonised systems such that the data we collect, process, validate, analyse and disseminate can also be used for meaningful comparisons, thus it is very crucial that all the 25 MS have similar, and in certain areas,

identical databases. In particular, the Injury Database (IDB) will be a very useful tool to monitor acci-dents and injuries across Europe and to provide the necessary information on the impact of any health/education/social policies that may be implemented. Acci-dents are a preventable cause of mortality, morbidity and disability and every effort should be made to diminish their burden on our society. All new MS should join IDB. This will demonstrate to the European Commission that it is a priority area, data from all 25 MS will be available and more mean-ingful comparisons can be made.

Malta is participating in DG SANCO’s Working Party on Injuries and Accidents as it is committed in its endeavour to tackle the consequent burdens of accidents. The Health Division of Malta in its Health Vision 2000 policy document has recognised Traffic Accidents as a preventable cause of premature deaths and avoidable ill health and was included within the six priority areas under “disease and other entities”. Malta is rather at the initial stages of implementing the IDB. The Department of Health Information, one of the eight departments forming the Health Division within the Ministry of Health, is responsible for the provision of accurate, reliable and timely information on the health of the population residing in the Maltese Islands. As consultant in this field and also as head of the department, I have earmarked this domain as one of the priority areas of work and we remain committed to implement the IDB by 2005.

What are 'Malta's' expectations as a participant of the NDA network within the Injury Working Party?

Malta’s expectations from participating in the NDA network

are to obtain guidance and support towards the implementa-tion of the IDB. In this way we can learn from the experience of our colleagues in different countries taking on board the most positive ap-proaches and avoiding negative experiences. In doing so we do not ‘reinvent the wheel’, prevent-ing the loss of valuable resources both in terms of person-time and finances and gaining expertise from the excellent knowledge workers have that are already working in the field. In return Malta can offer its advantages of a small island nation, the unique opportunity to develop a fully fledged comprehensive national system on injuries.

The potential of developing a system covering all possible sources of information to ensure its completeness is available. We can develop a system that over-laps both public and private services and also both secondary and primary levels of health care. Thus one can envisage the sit-uation to collect information from public and private sector in the areas of accidents and injuries from hospitals, health centres (polyclinics or primary health care units) and ideally also from family doctors. This would ensure that all cases for IDB are being tapped.

How important is funding in the implementation of the IDB in Malta?

The parallel to the unique opportunity of developing a system as described above is counterbalanced if not overrun by the problem of unavailable funds. Only if finances are available to implement a proper IDB can such a vision see the light of day. Funding is the make or break of

Data collection in Malta: an interview with Dr. Renzo Pace Asciak


this system. It is necessary to upgrade our ‘ancient’ databases to enable their existence and to add on this new module of IDB. Goodwill of our social partners - hospitals, health centres and doctors as well as other national agencies - will determine optimal outcomes.

I am very optimistic about the success and I have proved this in the various positive outcomes emanating from the two projects that I have managed, namely the First National Health Interview Survey (with an 80% response rate) and the Public Health Report (that had stopped for decades).

When do you plan to start collecting data for the Injury Database (IDB) and how exact-ly will the data be collected?

The National Statistics Office collates basic information on traffic accidents and quarterly reports are issued regularly. The Department of Health Information (DHI) collects activity information on the main acute general public hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital (SLH). From this, some informa-tion on injuries can be derived, such as those arising from falls. It is planned that this system be-comes operational from SLH itself towards the middle of this year and from a National Hospital Information System that will be set-up by DHI by the end of this year. However, there is no infor-mation available on home and leisure accidents.

In the coming months nego-tiations will start with SLH to start data collection on all cases of accidents, injuries, asphyxiation and violence seen at the Emer-gency and Admitting Department. This will then be extended to include all hospitals and health centres. Meanwhile the largest limiting factor will be the IT part. As mentioned earlier a new database system needs to be implemented and the necessary funds are not available. Project

participation in the IDB will make implementation more feasible. It is being projected that piloting of the system will start towards the last quarter of this year or early 2005. By the end of 2005 data can be submitted to the EU IDB.

How will you sustain this data collection system in Malta?

Once data collection is estab-lished and the necessary IT is in place, DHI will ensure that the process will remain operational by committing itself with the neces-sary resources to ensure that there is regular surveillance, data collection, feedback to data sources followed up with discus-sions of any relevant issues, should these become necessary.

The Health Division in Malta is currently undergoing a reform aimed at shedding its service provider function and strengthen-ing its role as regulator and policy advisor. Its mission statement incorporates the concept of evidenced-based health policy-making. In this respect the De-partment of Health Information has the pivotal role of ensuring that the necessary information is made available, within the con-straints of available human and financial resources.

How and by whom will the data be used in Malta?

The Department of Health Promotion is and will be another one of our focal clients that will use our information to base its promotional campaigns. The Department of Health Information has a long list of clients including Parliament, Ministries, Govern-ment departments, health profes-sionals, managers, researchers, students, the media, international organisations such as the World Health Organisation, the Statisti-cal Office of the European Com-munities, International Agency on Research of Cancer, European Network of Congenital Anomalies Registries, International Clearing

House on Birth Defects Monitor-ing Systems and many others.

In the coming years IDB will be developed to include collecting data on unintentional injuries. What is your opinion on this and do you already have any statistics or estimates on the scope of unintentional injuries in Malta?

The so-called European Home and Leisure Accidents Surveil-lance System (EHLASS) is cur-rently being expanded to contain all types of accidents including those associated with traffic and violence. This will now form the so-called Injury Database (IDB). I believe this is a positive move towards gaining acceptance from everyone, as there will be one system on accidents and not separate ones on the different categories of accidents. More uniformity can be obtained across Europe especially if the separate systems fall under the responsi-bilities of different entities in a country. Also any maintenance, upgrade, coding system used, issue of new guidelines, changes in coding rules, etc. will effect all systems in the same way as long as they are implemented concur-rently by all MS.

What is/will be your personal role in the IDB implementation in Malta?

As consultant and head of department it will be my role to ensure that there will be a smooth implementation of IDB. I will be able to manage this with the support and teamwork of my dedicated staff within the depart-ment. Assistance has also been provided from our colleagues in Greece, namely Prof. Eleni Petri-dou and her excellent staff from the Centre for Research and Prevention of Injuries among the young, University Of Athens. I led a delegation there during which we were given a live demonstra-tion of the Greek IDB together with site visits of different hospi-


tals and how the data is collected. We now know exactly where we stand and what needs to be done.

Are you also involved in other Working Parties of the Public Health Programme?

Besides being involved in DG SANCO’s Accidents and Injuries Working Party, I am also actively participating in the Network of Competent Authorities and the Working Parties on Mortality and Morbidity and that on Health Systems. In the theme of Public Health I am the national represen-tative on Eurostat’s Working Group on Public Health Statistics, Technical meetings on Health and Health Related Surveys and Causes of Death Statistics. Re-garding the latter, after 6 years, I will be delegating this post to my colleague medical officer who is in charge of the National Mortality

Registry. I have just been nomi-nated as chairman of the Task Force that will be assuming the work to develop a validation system for the EU for mortality data in the endeavour to achieve better harmonisation across Europe. Towards the latter goal I am participating in the EU project on the development of a training package for coders to improve the quality of certification of deaths and towards which we are committed to implement towards the end of this year once the results are released. Finally one must mention the automated coding of causes of deaths, another commitment which Malta will see to its completion by 2005.

Is there anything you would like to propose (to be changed) for the Injury Working Party from your experiences so far?

I fully commend the excellent work that many of the experts from different countries have provided and are still actively producing and I am proud to be part of this Working Party. I have nothing new to propose except for all colleagues from the MS to continue their collaboration and support with the Acceding Coun-tries, as their experience and advice will be instrumental to steer the AC’s in implementing IDB. I am sure that after the expansion of the Union we will see ‘further’ collaboration be-tween the European Commission (including DG SANCO and Euro-stat) and the MS and more har-monisation of our ‘European Statistical System’.

For more information please contact Dr. Renzo Pace Asciak at [email protected].

Using the Injury DataBase: an interview with the IDB Helpdesk

What are the exact functions and services of the IDB Help-desk?

The IDB Help Desk functions are as follows:

• Providing support to the users if they have problems with accessing the application.

• Managing the user list based on the recommendations of the NDA.

• Registering and analysing possible bugs and malfunc-tioning reported by the users.

Could you explain why the name of the Injury Surveillance System (ISS) was changed to the Injury Database (IDB)?

First of all, this change will be applied when the enhancement of the application will be done later this year. This modification has been foreseen as IDB is not a Surveillance

Could you provide a brief over-view of the recent user statistics?

For 2003, there were 54 registered users from 14 different countries and 24 different organi-sations. However, you have to keep in mind that access to the the application has been very restricted which accounts for the the rather low number of users.

Have you had any strange or funny requests?

No …

If IDB users experience problems how can they contact the Help Desk?

The Help Desk can only be contacted by email using the functional mailbox: [email protected] or [email protected]. If it is necessary, the Help Desk will also contact the user by phone.

tool. So having the word surveil-lance in the name of the application was not describing correctly the application and its goal.

Who and how can one get access to the IDB?

You can get access, if your National Data Administrator approves it. This is the precondi-tion which was agreed by the group of National Data Adminis-trators at a meeting last June, since they are the owners of the data stored in ISS. The names of the NDA'S are listed on our homepage: http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph/programmes/i n j u r y / o u t c o m e 2 0 0 0 /fp_injury_datacollection_info.pdf

Do you have any useful tips on using IDB?

If you query the whole raw database (actually 5,340,027 records), be patient ☺


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We would like to invite you to the 7th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion in Vienna 2004 – co-sponsored by the World Health Organization.

Where

Vienna, Austria, Europe – Austria Centre Vienna (Con-ference Centre)

When

June 6-9, 2004

Conference Themes

• Violence Prevention

• Suicide Prevention

• Road Safety

• Work Safety and Health

• Child and Elder Safety

• Safety in the Home and Insti-tutions

• Sports, Leisure Time Safety

• Product Safety

• Trauma Management

• Disaster and Terrorism Prepar-edness, Civil Protection

• Safe Communities

3rd Announcement – Call for Registration

This new brochure can now be downloaded as a pdf-file from the Conference website: www.safety2004.info

It contains:

• Updated programme structure

• Listing of Committee mem-bers

• Updated speaker list

Satellite Conferences

Various satellite meetings and working meetings have been scheduled around the days of the 7th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion. We invite all delegates to the Conferences to utilise this oppor-tunity and participate in these events as well:

• Developing National Policies for Injury and Violence Prevention. Date: Friday, June 4th, 2004 Organiser: World Health Organization, Department of Injuries and Violence Preven-tion.

• International Seminar on Injury Research Methods Date: Thursday, June 10th, 2004 Organiser: European Con-sumer Safety Association

• The 6th International Society on Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention (ISCAIP) Conference Date: Saturday, June 5th, 2004 Organiser: ISCAIP

• European Child Safety Alli-ance – Working Meeting Date: Sunday, June 6th, 2004 Organiser: European Child Safety Alliance

Details on how to register for these events and information on additional satellite conferences and working meetings can be found on the Conference website under “Satellite Conferences / Working Meetings”.

Participants

Participants will have opportu-nities for direct involvement through oral presentations, poster displays, video submissions, satellite meetings and exhibits.

The Conference Team received abstract submissions from partici-pants from all around the world. Notifications regarding abstract submissions and scholarship applications have already been sent out.

Social Events

Delegates to the Conferences will also be able to enjoy various social events in order to network with colleagues from all over the world. The kick-off event will be a Welcome Reception in the Aus-tria Convention Center on June 6th, followed by a special Recep-tion by the Mayor of Vienna in the beautiful location of the Vienna City Hall on June 8th.

Contact the Conference Team in Vienna

• Address: Oelzeltgasse 3 / Postfach 190, A-1031 Vienna, Austria, Europe

• Tel: +43 1 715 66 44 0

• Fax: +43 1 715 6644 30

• E-mail: [email protected]

• Website: http://www.safety2004.info

7th World Conference update


FORTHCOMING AGENDA

28 and 29 April, Luxembourg

3rd Meeting of the Working Party on Accidents and Injuries

(Jean Monnet Building, M5)

April 15, 2004, Melbourne, Australia

International Health Promotion Conference

The Australian Health Promotion Association

Web: www.healthpromotion.org.au/conferences.htm

19-23 April, Stockholm, Sweden

Global Burden of Injury - 4th Inter-national Course (Ph.D level)

(Application deadline was 31 January, 2004)

E-mail: [email protected]

Tel.: +46 8 517 779 48

Fax: +46 8 33 46 93

25-28 May, 2004 Los Angeles, USA

3rd National Sexual Violence Pre-vention Conference: Building Lead-ership and Commitment to End Sexual Violence

CDC, California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, US Department of Justice

Web: www.cdc.gov/ncipc

31 May - 1 June, Kromeriz, Czech Republic

Safe Schools Seminar

E-mail:

[email protected]

Web: http://www.peacefulresources.org/InternationalSafeSchools.html

2-4 June, Prague, Czech Republic

13th International Conference on Safe Communities


6-9 June 2004, Vienna, Austria

7th World Congress on Injury Preven-tion, Control and Safety Promotion:

Austrian Board for Safety and Pre-vention


Web: www.safety2004.info

10 June 2 004, Vienna, Austria

International Seminar on Injury Re-search Methods

Contact: Saakje Mulder


23-25 June, Hungary, Budapest

Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health

‘The future of our children’

World Health Organization

Web: www.who.dk/budapest2004

4-8 July 2004, Istanbul, Turkey

10th World Conference on Trans-port Research (WCTR)

WCTR Society

Tel.: +90 212 232 21 03

Fax: +90 212 240 72 60


Web: www.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/let/-wctrs/indexconferences.htm

8-13 August 2004, Glasgow, United Kingdom

17th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety

Web: www.ICADTS2004.com

15-17 September 2004, Queen-sland, Australia

7th Australian Injury Prevention and Control Conference and 2nd Pacific Rim Safe Communities Conference


Web: www.nisu.flinders.edu.au/aipn/conference2004

The Injury Prevention Pro-gramme was established in 1999 under the guidelines laid out by the Council and the European Parliament. The ulti-mate aim of the Programme is to support public health activi-ties that seek to reduce injuries in particular those due to home and leisure accidents.

Co-ordinating Secretariat (January 1 2003 to March 31 2004): Robert Bauer, Project leader and Claudia Körmer information officer, Institute Sicher Leben, Austria.

Editor & design: Justin Cooper

Advisory Editor: Marike Heijt

Reproducton of texts from the IPP Newsletter is permitted, providing the source is prop-erly credited.

……..CONTACT DETAILS…….

Editorial: [email protected]

[email protected]

20-21 September, Stockholm, Sweden

Safer Environments for Children in Europe

European Child Safety Alliance

Tel.: +31 20 511 4513

Fax: + 31 20 511 4510


Web: www.childsafetyeurope.org

Network Meetings 2004

2004 Conferences

This paper was produced by persons from outside the European Commission for Health & ConsumerProtection DG in the context of the Community action programme on injury prevention and represents theirviews on the subject. These views have not been adopted or in any way approved by the Commission andshould not be relied upon as a statement of the Commission's or Health & Consumer Protection DG's views.The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper, nor does itaccept responsibility for any use made thereof.

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