Injuries cause more than five million deaths every year, resulting in high economic and social costs for communities around the globe.

These costs are greater in low and middle-income countries, where public health systems have yet to prioritize injuries as a major health concern, despite the cost-effective methods available to prevent them.

Through research, collaboration and training, the Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit strives to identify effective solutions to the growing burden of injuries in low and middle-income populations, influence public policy and practice, and advance the field of injury prevention throughout the world.

The Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit is a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Injuries, Violence and Accident Prevention.
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Recent News

January 11, 2012
RTIRN January – March 2012 Newsletter on Capacity Development Features IIRU
The Road Traffic Injuries Research Network (RTIRN) has released its January-March 2012 newsletter with a special focus on capacity development for road traffic injury (RTI) research. The newsletter is supported by the Bloomberg Philanthropies from their Bloomberg Global Road Safety Project, provided by the Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (IIRU). The issue features contributions from RTIRN partners all around the globe including an introduction by Dr. Adnan Hyder, the Unit’s Director and RTIRN’s chair, and a piece on building capacity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by Dr. Abdul Bachani, the Unit’s Associate Director for Training and Capacity Development. 

Dr. Bachani’s contribution, “Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit Building Capacity for Injury Prevention in Low- and Middle-Income Countries,” expounded on IIRU’s ongoing training efforts in LMICs—an essential part of its mission. These efforts include: learning by doing, workshops, and formal coursework through the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH). Indeed IIRU team members are actively involved in hands on training for local collaborators and regularly conduct workshops on a variety of injury prevention topics in addition to offering formal on campus and online courses. IIRU understands cost can be a major hindrance to the transfer of knowledge, consequently Dr. Bachani has worked to make the material covered in two courses, Confronting the Burden of Injuries and Using Summary Measures of Health to Improve Health Systems, available for free access via the Johns Hopkins Open Course Ware System (http://ocw.jhsph.edu/).

To access the entire RTIRN January-March newsletter, please follow this link: http://www.rtirn.net/Newsletters/january2012.asp

For more information visit the RTIRN website; or contact: secretariat@rtirn.net
RTIRN is on Facebook and Twitter: @RTIRN 

January 3, 2012
PAHO, WHO and IIRU co-host 2-Day Experts' Meeting on Motorcycle-Related Injuries in the Americas
The “Expert Consultation on Motorcyclist Injury Prevention in the Americas” was held at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Headquarters in Washington, D.C. on 15-16 November 2011. The meeting was co-hosted by PAHO, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Johns Hopkins University International Injury Research Unit (IIRU). Dr. Abdul Bachani, the Associate Director for Training and Capacity Development, and Jeffrey Lunnen, Research Program Coordinator, attended the meeting on behalf of the unit.

Experts from nine countries in the region, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela, attended the meeting to discuss the emerging issue of motorcycle-related injuries in the Americas. Participants from organizations such as EMBARQ, the Inter-American Development Bank, Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health, and the Universidade de São Paulo analyzed current interventions from several sectors designed and implemented to address this issue. A draft document to summarize the group’s main recommendations is expected to be developed by PAHO. Upon the completion of the drafting of these recommendations, a policy brief and regional strategy will be developed. For more information please contact: Jlunnen@jhsph.edu.

Participants at the two-day experts' meeting on motorcycle-related injuries in the Americas co-hosted by PAHO, WHO and IIRU. Photo rights belong to PAHO.

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January 2, 2012

UN Acknowledges The Largest Donation to Global Road Safety by Bloomberg Philanthropies to Six Institutions including IIRU
In September 2011, the Sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly acknowledged Bloomberg Philanthropies’ donation of US$ 125 million to improve global road safety. This contribution has supported the implementation of a five-year project in 10 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to prevent road traffic injuries, which coincides with the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. The multi-million dollar contribution is considered the largest donation to global road safety by far.

The recipients of the donation represent a global consortium on road safety. Since 2009 The Johns Hopkins University International Injuries Research Unit (IIRU) has partnered with 5 other international institutions: the World Health Organization, the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility, the Global Road Safety Commitment, EMBARQ - the World Resources Institute Center for Sustainable Transport, and the Association for Safe International Road Travel. To date IIRU has closely monitored road safety interventions in each RS-10 country and collected several rounds of primary data as regards targeted risk factors: motorcycle helmet use, seatbelt and child restraint use, speeding and drunk driving.