Utvecklingen av dödsfall till följd av oavsiktlig skada i länder under snabb ekonomisk utveckling
InjuriesMortalityInjury developmentEconomic developmentTiger economiesSkadorDödlighetSkadeutvecklingEkonomisk utvecklingTigerekonomier
Purpose.The purpose of this essay was formulated as to examine the relationship between the development of deaths caused by unintentional injury and fast economic development in a country. The purpose is to create a picture of the development in the chosen countries.Background.Injuries and the deaths that sometimes follow are a problem for all communities, if nothing else just because of costs and the absence of incomes for the state. Countries ability to restrain these deaths should be of interest. Studies show that the number of deaths causedby unintentional injuries correlates inversely with the GDP/c, we can therefore expect that better economic conditions leads to fewer deaths and vice versa. It has been shown that an economic crisis often leads to considerably higher death rates. It would be interesting to examine if the opposite condition has the same quickresponse, and to what extent fast economic growth brings changes in the cause of death statistics.Method and material.Seven countries were chosen based ontheir fast economic growth. Data about the countries economic development(GDP(PPP)/c) were acquired from the IMF databases. The cause of death statistics was acquired from the WHO database. The deaths caused by unintentional injury were arranged in age groups (excluding 64> or older) and by sex for each year in the examined time period. These data were plotted in diagrams along with linear trend lines that indicate general development.Resultsand conclusions. The results are quite deviating across the different countries. Any general conclusions about how the deaths caused by unintentional injury changes under fast economic growth cannot be drawn. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania show fast sinking death rates, albeit from quite high levels. Singapore shows faster dropping death rates than Hong Kong, even though they had comparable starting positions. The third Asian tiger, Korea, has a generally increasing trend from an initially high level. Ireland, like Hong Kong, shows only a moderate declining trend. In all cases the death rates among children has dropped.