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29
Deaths from Violence.—These number 25 including 8
from Motor Vehicle Accidents, 8 from Suicide and the remainder
being accounted for under the heading of ' All Other Accidents.
Deaths from Motor Vehicle Accidents were three fewer in
number to those of the previous year, while suicide showed a fall of
one.
Two of the remaining deaths from violence concerned children
under 5 years of age. Both occurred at home and both could be
considered as being preventable, one concerned a child who fell
from a window and the other a child who fell down stairs.
From a national and economic standpoint the child who is
killed in a road accident is a greater potential loss to the community
than a person of over 65 years of age who dies from cancer or a heart
disability.
Recently, Dr. D. J. R. Snow, Epidemiologist to the Department
of Public Health for Western Australia analysed vital statistics
with a view to determining the number of ' useful years lost' for
each of the major causes of death and his investigations revealed
that on this basis ' automobile and other accidents ' head the list as
the primary cause of premature death with cancer and coronary
disease in 3rd and 5th places respectively ; suicide occupies 7th
position in this new form of classification.
Observations of this nature only emphasise the necessity for
even greater attention on accident prevention measures.