A recent UNICEF study of Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries found that injury is the leading cause of death among children in each of the 26 countries examined (see CMAJ 2001; 164[10]:1483). The annual death rate due to injury is highest in Korea (25.6 per 100 000 children) and lowest in Sweden (5.2 per 100 000); the rate for Canadian children is 9.7 per 100 000.
Traffic accidents accounted for 41% of child deaths by injury among OECD countries, with the highest rates being found in Greece (62%) and Italy (54%). The rate of child death due to traffic accidents was lowest in Mexico (30%) and Japan (36%). Traffic deaths represent 44% of all child deaths by injury in Canada.
Drowning accounted for 15% of all child deaths by injury in the OECD, while 7% were attributed to fire, 4% to falls, 2% to poisoning and 1% to firearm accidents; other unintentional injuries account for 16% of deaths. Intentional injuries accounted for the remaining 14% of child deaths. Fire accounts for proportionately more child deaths in Canada than the OECD average (10% compared with 7%), while falls and drowning account for fewer (2% versus 4% for falls, and 13% compared with 15% for drowning).
For the OECD as a whole, and for each country, boys are more likely than girls to die as a result of injury (15.9 per 100 000 vs. 9.2 per 100 000). This disparity between the sexes is most pronounced in Ireland, where the boy–girl ratio for injury-related death is 2.3:1, and least pronounced in Sweden, where the ratio is 1.34:1; the Canadian ratio is 1.61:1.