Addressing the void: firearm injury prevention in the USA

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Lois K Lee, Boston Children's Hospital; Sofia Chaudhary, Emory University; Samaa Kemal, Ann and Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago; Andrew Kiragu, Hennepin Healthcare; Karen Sheehan, Ann and Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago; Eric W Fleegler, Boston Childrens Hospital
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-08-01
• Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(22)00158-4
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: LANCET CHILD & ADOLESCENT HEALTH
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 8
• Start Page: 515
• End Page: 516
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Pediatrics; Life Sciences & Biomedicine
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced health systems worldwide to address the foundational meaning of disease prevention and harm reduction. While global attention has focused on this unprecedented pandemic, in the USA, an accelerating shift over the past decade has occurred in the leading cause of death among children and adolescents aged 0–19 years. According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published in 2022, firearms are the leading cause of death among young people in the USA, due to both a sharp increase in firearm fatalities (83% increase since 2013) and a progressive decrease in motor vehicle fatalities (51% decrease since 2000).1 The increase in firearm deaths is largely due to increased firearm homicides, as nearly 60% of firearm deaths among young people since 2010 were homicides.