Abstract
Injury has long been one of the most important public health problems. Since 1960, injury has been the leading cause of death among children aged 1 to 15 in Japan. Moreover, as injury deaths affect a much younger segment of the population than is true for most other health problems, they have a considerable effect on the Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL).
In years past, the commonly used term ‘accident prevention’ has often led to misdirection. These days, many researchers prefer the term ‘injury control’, which was derived from the conceptual shift in this field occurring over the past few decades. In this article, we argued for general principles of injury control, such as the Haddon matrix, passive-versus active-strategies, and the “three E's”approach (Education, Engineering, Enforcement).
Furthermore, brief mention was also made of the recent development of behavioral and community- based approaches relevant to injury control, such as the injury iceberg of the ecological model, the PRECEDE-PROCEDE model, the third axis of the Haddon matrix, and the safe-community movement.
