European Union injury prevention framework

The European Union has announced that it will be putting in place a public health programme aimed at reducing home and leisure injuries. There will be two strands: improving the European Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System (EHLASS), and exchanging information on the use of data to enable the definition of priorities and better prevention strategies. The formal announcement and the detail are in the Official Journal of the European Communities, 20 February 1999. The programme runs until the end of 2003 will be managed by the public health directorate general, DG 5. It has been allocated EUR 14 million (about $13.5 million). One remarkable aspect of this announcement is the major change in the programme that appeared to happen at the last minute. It had been expected that the programme would support exchange of information and improve networking within Europe.

MADD seeks applicants for national youth summit 2000

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is seeking high school student leaders from across the US to represent their communities in Washington DC at the MADD National Youth Summit to Prevent Underage Drinking 2000. One high school student from each of the 435 US congressional districts will be selected to attend the historic MADD summit to address youth alcohol use—the number 1 drug among young people (visit www.madd.org for further information).

Underage drinking is one of America's most pervasive problems, causing death and injury to far too many young people every year. According to one national survey, 9.5 million drinkers are under the legal minimum drinking age of 21. MADD believes that young people must be an integral part of the solution to this serious problem. The National Youth Summit is a part of a continuing focus MADD has placed on underage drinking and drunk driving.

Twelve policy level recommendations were created by the youth delegates at the 1997 …