190177 Addressing the global epidemic of violence: Policy implications for supporting a public health agenda

Monday, October 27, 2008: 2:30 PM

Deborah Prothrow-Stith, MD , Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Fran Henry, MBA , Global Violence Prevention, Cummington, MA
Rachel Davis, MSW , Prevention Institute, Oakland, CA
Billie Weiss, MPH , Epidemology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Elise L. Scott, PhD , Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc., Washington, DC
     
The World health Organization's World Report on Violence and Health characterized violence as a universal challenge. In the report's forward, Nelson Mandela said, “The twentieth century will be remembered as a century marked by violence…Violence can be prevented. In my own country and around the world, we have shining examples of how violence has been countered. Governments, communities and individuals can make a difference.” The message of the World Report on Violence and Health is that a political commitment is imperative and change is possible. UNITY (Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth), The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and Global Violence Prevention, highlight policy as a key lever for change and for institutionalizing a public health approach. With an emphasis on policy implications, this session will feature a global and a national violence prevention initiative, as well as the perspective of policy makers on this issue.

Learning Objectives:
1. Recognize violence as an international public health problem that can be prevented. 2. Identify global and national violence prevention initiatives. 3. Discuss the UNITY vision for safer cities and thriving youth. 4. Articulate the policy implications of advancing the movement to prevent violence.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a nationally recognized public health leader. As a physician working in inner-city hospitals and neighborhood clinics, she recognized violence as a significant public health issue. The typical medical response to patients injured by violence led to her examination of violence as a societal “disease” that could be prevented through implementing effective public health strategies. Appointed in 1987 as Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, she established the first Office of Violence Prevention in a state department of public health and expanded treatment programs for AIDS and drug rehabilitation. Dr. Prothrow-Stith currently serves as Associate Dean for Diversity and Henry Pickering Walcott Professor of Practice of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Prothrow-Stith, a Harvard Medical School graduate, has received ten honorary doctorates, the 1993 World Health Day Award, the 1989 Secretary of Health and Human Service Award, and an appointment to the National Commission on Crime Control and Prevention.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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