In correspondence to the International Day of the Child [1], ECSA issued a press release with the results of a major European project on child and adolescent safety. Mrs Vincenten, ECSA director, argued that proven safety measures are not being entirely adopted, implemented and enhanced. Explanatory reasons lie in the lack of government and industry commitment to make safety a priority for children and families.
There is a common thread across Europe relating child death to accidents; therefore, more resources should be addressed to change dramatic death tolls. Indeed, more than 6700 child and adolescent deaths could be avoided if every Member State pursued the “best practice” set up by the safest country in the EU, Sweden [2]. The purpose of the project is to suggest several enhancing measures for national action planning to promote virtuous transitions in those countries that reported high death tolls, such as Greece and Portugal. Nonetheless, the research provides recommendations to every country according to 12 defined policies. The policies assessed [3] in the performance grading have demonstrated the ability to prevent child deaths if they are successfully adopted, implemented and enhanced. The efficacy of targeted measures, such as child seats in cars and fencing for private swimming pools to mention but a few, were relevant in relation to traffic accidents, drowning, falls, poisoning, burns and choking. Furthermore, the assessment also scores the countries on the basis of their leadership, infrastructure and capacity in child safety.
The Child Safety Report Cards are part and parcel of the Child Safety Action Plan initiative led by the European Child Safety Alliance of EuroSafe in partnership with the European Commission, the Health & Environment Alliance (HEAL), UNICEF Innocenti Centre, the University of Keele and the West of England, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and partner organisations in 18 countries.
Child Safety Report Cards: a more detailed picture
The Child Safety Report Cards summarise a country’s performance to July 2006 with respect to the level of safety provided to children and adolescents at the national policy level. They describe:
1) how well a country is doing to make it safe for children, 2) what priority issues need to be addressed, and 3) which good practices should be adopted, implemented and enforced to prevent accidental injuries and to save more children’s lives.
The report cards assess the extent of safety measures provided to children and adolescents by examining and grading the adoption, implementation and enforcement of national level evidence-based policies. The Child Safety Summary Report Card for 18 Countries provides a multi-country overview to facilitate European-level planning to support national level efforts. The Report Cards are designed to provide not only a baseline on which to assess progress but also a tool for identifying current policy gaps and suggesting priorities for action.
The Child Safety Report Card Europe: Summary for 18 countries provides an overview of the report card results for the 18 participating countries including recommendations for action on child safety at the national and European level.
The Child Safety Profiles provide countries with a standard set of measures of the burden of children and adolescents injuries overall and by issue area, and information on socio-demographic determinants and availability and affordability of child safety equipment. This information serves as a background resource when considering how to best address child and adolescent injury in each country and allows better decisions to be made during planning, particularly during identifying critical issues, priority setting and resource allocation. It also allows the monitoring of progress and evaluation of action that takes place at both a national and European level.
EU-18 scores out of a total of 60:
| Country | Score |
|---|---|
| Austria | 27 |
| Belgium | 29.5 |
| Czech Republic | 31 |
| Denmark | 39.5 |
| Estonia | 27 |
| France | 37 |
| Germany | 35.5 |
| Greece | 21 |
| Hungary | 32 |
| Italy | 27 |
| Netherlands | 40 |
| Northern Ireland | 40 |
| Norway | 35.5 |
| Poland | 32 |
| Portugal | 20 |
| Scotland | 31.5 |
| Spain | 22.5 |
| Sweden | 40 |
More details about the review conclusions are reported in the PDF document attached below (see Child Safety Report Cards Results).
For further information:
Commission Communication on Action for a safer Europe
Commission Communication towards an EU strategy on the rights of the child
Child safety Report Cards
ECSA campaigns
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
EPHA related articles:
Major review of child safety in 18 countries
Child Safety Good Practice Guide
Home Safety Campaign: protecting children from injuries
2007 first UN Road Safety Week: improving road safety for young people
Towards an EU strategy on the Rights of the Child
