Preface: The Role of the Epidemiologist in Injury Prevention and Control--An Unmet Challenge

More young people in the United States aged 1–34 years die from injuries than from all other causes of death combined. Injuries, the fourth leading cause of death, kill nearly 150,000 US residents each year (1). They account for approximately 25 percent of all premature deaths before age 65 years in this country, 10 times the number of premature deaths from the human immunodeficiency virus. As outlined by Segui-Gomez and MacKenzie (2) in this volume of Epidemiologic Reviews, injuries are responsible for an even greater burden when morbidity and disability are measured. For example, 30 million US citizens are treated in emergency departments annually for injuries, and injuries account for nearly 8 percent of hospital discharges. The World Health Organization projects that by the year 2020, traffic injuries alone will become the sixth leading contributor to disability-adjusted life-years worldwide (3).