A new economic report shows that injuries cost British Columbia $3.7 billion in one year. The Economic Burden of Injury in British Columbia, published today by the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit (BCIRPU), shows where injury prevention efforts could have the greatest return on investment for all age groups. The dollars include health care system costs, such as hospitalization and patient care expenses, as well as indirect costs of lost economic productivity from disability and premature death.

To support communities, BCIRPU produced the British Columbia Casebook of Injury Prevention, a highly visual, online resource with useful charts and info graphics that help make the case for injury prevention. The Casebook includes nine high quality examples of injury prevention in action from the health authorities and demonstrates positive return on investment in injury prevention initiatives.

Please click on the following link for both new resources: the BC Casebook for Injury Prevention and the Economic Burden of Injury in BC.

The Economic Burden of Injury in British Columbia was supported by the BC Ministry of Health, the Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI), the Provincial Health Services Authority, and the University of British Columbia. The report is based on the latest available data (2010) from the BC Ministry of Health, BC Vital Statistics, National Ambulatory Care Reporting System and Statistics Canada as well as calculations for disability rates and morbidity costs. The costing methodology for this internationally peer reviewed report is based on Parachute’s Electronic Resource Allocation Tool, combining existing data with variables from the literature in order to model the full costs of unintentional and intentional injuries.

The British Columbia Casebook of Injury Prevention was supported by the Provincial Health Services Authority, Fraser Health, Interior Health, Island Health, Northern Health, Vancouver Coastal Health, First Nations Health Authority and Parachute Canada.

If you are interested in helping to evaluate the BC Casebook for Injury Prevention, please click here.

The BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit is supported by the Child & Family Research Institute, BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, BC Ministry of Health, Provincial Health Services Authority, and the University of British Columbia.

If you have any questions, please contact us at bcinjury1@cw.bc.ca. We look forward to hearing from you.