Injury death rates high - study

A new study has revealed that people in the Republic are more likely to die as a result of an injury than those in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The data was presented at a public health seminar in Dublin yesterday which highlighted that the Republic has the highest rate of death by both suicide and car crashes, and the third-highest for homicide, in these islands.

The Republic's injury death rate was 40 per cent higher than that in England, and suicide in the State was 21 per cent more prevalent than in the North. The data was compiled by the Population Health Observatory (INIsPHO), a joint venture between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Prof Ronan Lyons of the Injury Observatory for Britain and Ireland said most injuries were avoidable as they "occurred in a predictable manner" and that "existing technology" could make road injuries "preventable".

He said people with injuries "occupy more hospital beds" than those suffering with cancer and he advocated the use of traffic calming to reduce road deaths.

The study found that suicide is responsible for 22 per cent of the injury death rate, falls accounted for 18 per cent and motor traffic incidents were responsible for 17 per cent of these deaths.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office found that injuries account for 5 per cent of all deaths in the State, with unintentional injuries, such as road crashes and falls, accounting for two-thirds of the figure.

Intentional injuries such as suicide and homicide were responsible for 23 per cent of the deaths.

Steve Barron, a research analyst at INIsPHO, said our higher injury death rate could be due to differences in our "attitudes to safety" or differences in public health priorities and physical environments. "Our approach to injury prevention is another reason for the high figure."