PAHO treats violence as a public health hazard
Washington, DC, August 27, 2003 (PAHO)—The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) believes that violence -from the domestic kind to that in gang activities- should be treated as a public health issue and not just a law enforcement matter.
"Violence is an end product," said PAHO Deputy Director Dr. Joxel Garcia in an interview here.
"You are not going to just get up and punch me in the nose because you felt like doing it. There are a lot of trigger actions or trigger factors before that happens," he added. "I personally believe that no person was created evil. We have to look at the factors that affected that person."
"So, when we are talking about violence we have to realize that it is creating a health hazard because there is a risk that a violent act may harm people - from a pregnant woman all the way to a child and to an elderly person, or just a bystander."
"From the public health perspective, there's a mental health issue and there is a physical component to violence," said Dr. Garcia.
And then there's the issue of people who tend to be violent and who, according to Dr. Garcia, "also tend to have a higher risk of eating disorders, drinking disorders and some other behavioral problems such as drug addiction."
"That all amounts to a health hazard," said the PAHO official.
Earlier this year, PAHO held a symposium on the public health impact of violence. Statistics unveiled during the June meeting showed that 120,000 people are homicide victims and another 180,000 die from suicide and traffic accidents in the Americas. Also, the rate of women who are victims of domestic violence ranges from a low of 20 percent to a high of 60 percent.
Three years ago, PAHO and other hemispheric and international organizations formed the Inter-American Coalition for the Prevention of Violence.
According to a 2002 World Health Organization (WHO) report, in 2000 an estimated 1.6 million people worldwide lost their lives to violence - a rate of nearly 28.8 per 100,000. "Rates of violence vary according to country income levels," said WHO in its World Report on Health and Violence. "Rates of violent death in the low- to middle-income countries are more than twice as high (32.1 per 100,000) as those in high-income countries (14.4 per 100,000)."
"We must address the roots of violence. Only then will we transform the past century's legacy from a crushing burden into a cautionary lesson," said South Africa's Nelson Mandela in a foreword to the WHO report.
According to Garcia, "it's a multifaceted process, but the only thing that we are seeing is the end product which is the violence."
"But there are so many things behind it which is why we in public health try to look at all things at the same time. That's why we like to engage not only with civic community leaders and the health community leaders, but also the educational leadership and people who can rightfully create change - and it has to be sustainable."
PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world's oldest public health organization. PAHO works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and the quality of life of its people. It serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).
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