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Injury Alberta is a partnership of organizations that are committed to a vision
of a safer and healthier province.
By 2015, our goal is to reduce injuries by 30% across the province. This reduction
in injuries and injury-related hospital admissions will save 480 lives, and will
eliminate $700 million in health care costs. Injury Alberta will lead by
example, participating in a national collaboration known as Injury Canada. Our
goal is to save 4,000 lives and $6 billion in unnecessary healthcare costs
across Canada by 2015.
Huge strides have been made in injury prevention, but in recent years we have
seen the effects of these interventions plateau. With so much at stake, the time
to act is now.
Injury Alberta Strategies:
- Raise awareness of the injury epidemic and unite organizations and interested
parties in injury prevention.
- Reduce preventable injuries in Alberta.
- Participate in a national movement for bringing about a more complete set of
injury control solutions to benefit all Canadians by 2015.
- Create Injury Earth, an international partnership committed to injury
prevention.
- Establish a 50 million dollar endowment fund to support organizations working in
injury prevention and control in Alberta.
With so many pressing health concerns, why should we focus on injury?
Injury is the leading cause of death for Albertans under the age of 45. It is
also highly preventable. By reducing injury we not only save lives, but also
make resources available for other health issues through the elimination of
injury-related health care costs.
Will Injury Alberta replace existing injury prevention organizations?
Absolutely not. Injury Alberta is a partnership of organizations and individuals
who are committed to injury prevention. It will not replace existing injury
prevention organizations, but will support improved collaboration between groups
so we can see greater results from our efforts. In the last few years, the
successes we have made in injury prevention have reached a plateau. It is time
to revitalize our efforts against this epidemic.
Can we really reduce injuries by 30% by 2015?15?
Absolutely! Vision Zero
(www.visionzeroinitiative.com), a road safety program established in Sweden, is
just one example of how shared responsibility can create dramatic results.
Collaboration between the motor vehicle industry, road traffic planners, road
safety engineers, law enforcers, health professionals, educators, and road users
has resulted in Sweden having one of the world’s lowest traffic-related fatality
rates. Vision Zero encourages other countries to adopt similar programs and
provides resources to start the process. We can see these results too!
How will the endowment fund be used?
To reach these goals in Alberta, we want to establish an endowment fund at $10
million per year for five years. This $50 million provincial endowment will
generate about $5 million per year that would support organizations doing work
in injury prevention.
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