Advancing injury prevention and trauma care in North America and globally

Injury is a major global health problem. This article reviews ways in which the toll from injury can be lowered through the spectrum of injury control, including surveillance, prevention, and trauma care. There is room for improvement in the application of scientifically based, proved interventions at all points in the spectrum in all countries. The greatest attention is needed in low- and middle-income countries, however, where most of the world's people live, where injury rates are higher, and where few injury control activities have yet been undertaken.