In its 2007 Third Milestones of a Global Campaign for Violence Prevention report, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the strides that have been made since the 2002 creation of the Global Campaign for Violence Prevention, but also calls on countries around the world to step up violence prevention. This progress includes a greater understanding of how violence contributes to the non-injury health consequences and health risk behaviors, adoption of violence prevention resolutions by three WHO regional committees, reports and/or plans of action on violence and health by more than twenty five countries, and the appointment of more than 100 health ministry focal persons. At the same time, WHO recommends that countries scale-up violence prevention efforts during the next five years. The recommendations are as follows: · Create, implement and monitor national action plans for violence prevention;
· Enhance capacity for collecting data on violence;
· Define properties for, and support research on, the causes, consequences, costs and prevention of violence;
· Promote primary prevention responses;
· Strengthen responses for victims of violence;
· Integrate violence prevention into social and educational policies, and thereby promote gender and social equality;
· Increase collaboration and exchange of information on violence prevention;
· Promote and monitor adherence to international treaties, laws and other mechanisms to promote human rights; and
· Seek practical, internationally agreed to responses to the global drug trade and global arms trade.
Compiled from: "WHO Says World Must Step Up Violence Prevention," Family Violence Prevention Fund, 14 August 2007.