Safety 2024 - the 15th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion - is to be held in Delhi, India from September 2-4, 2024, and hosted in partnership with injury-related World Health Organization Collaborating Centres in the country.
With a population of 1.4 billion population, India faces complex injury challenges that affect almost a million of its citizens each year, with self-harm, road injuries, falls, burns and drowning being the leading contributors.
In response to this burden, India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is developing the country's first injury prevention strategy. It is also developing a national drowning prevention framework, extending its burns programme and developing a national snakebite prevention strategy.
Dr Jagnoor Jagnoor, Head of the Injury Division at The George Institute for Global Health, who is chairing the organising committee, said the time was right to harness the renewed focus on injury prevention in the region.
"India is ready to ramp up implementation of good practices in order to address the burden of injuries and violence - political will is high, priorities have been set and strategies developed," she said.
"But while there is a growing appreciation for deep prevention, going beyond immediate risk factors and addressing social, economic, environmental and political determinants of health, including safety, health systems have never been more constrained.
"Through this conference we hope to promote continued effort and advance the field in view of the recent developments in urbanization, digitalization, automation, gig economies and the climate crisis," Dr Jagnoor added.
The theme for Safety 2024 - Emerging Challenges in Injury Prevention: transformation and resilience for a safer world - reflects these aims with a "co-design" and "co-benefit" agenda - encouraging researchers and practitioners to look beyond just injury or violence prevention to inclusive and broader actions which have effect air quality, climate change.
It will also embrace the power of youth by engaging with young advocates and building their capacity by including them in all levels of organization as well as through tailored workshops.
"We want to inspire a new generation of practitioners to make injury prevention their career and maintain the momentum towards reducing the global burden of injury," said Dr Jagnoor.
Aside from the ambitious research agenda, the social program will have much to offer international visitors - India's capital and major gateway to the country, contemporary Delhi is a bustling metropolis, combining the ancient with the modern.
A tour of the city will provide the visitor with plenty to see and admire, ranging from Mughal monuments to modern malls, from traditional arts and crafts to trendy fashion shows and from skyscrapers to parks and gardens.
