The right to safety

2008-08-15 14:44

Verashni Pillay

Cape Town - Accidents and negligence kill more children worldwide than any disease - and South Africa has one of the worst records, the country's largest advocacy group for child accident prevention revealed as Child Safety month kicked off in August.

It would appear that parents have to take responsibility for many of the accidents.

CHILDSAFE assistant director, Nelmarie du Toit said that December holidays are peak times at Red Cross Children's Hospital in Rondebosch, Cape Town.

"This is the time when children are not supervised appropriately as they would be when they are at school," she told News24.

Common injuries included poisoning, drowning, burns, dog bites and motor vehicle accidents.

But simple precautions by parents would go a long way in making the home safer, said du Toit.

Hands and knees

"Prevention is better, cheaper and easier than care," she pointed out. "If parents have small children we usually advise them to scan their home for dangers at the level of their children." She recommended getting down on one's hands and knees and looking for any potential hazards that could be removed.

Much of South Africa's bad record of child safety was due to socio-economic factors, CHILDSAFE president, Professor Sebastian Van As told News24.

Issues include poor housing, overcrowding, extensive use of paraffin for heating and cooking, poorly-developed roads in some areas, and substance abuse and gangsterism.

"Children are seen as small adults," said Van As. "It is forgotten that children under the age of eight are unable to calculate or assess the dangers around them."

But parents across all income groups were guilty of poor road safety compliance. "Ninety percent of parents do not strap in their children," said Van As.

Fifteen percent of children treated at the trauma unit at the Red Cross Children's hospital in Cape Town were injured in car accidents. The figure was second only to the amount injured by falls - a hefty 41%.

While diseases like TB and HIV/Aids posed a grave danger to South Africa's children, it was everyday negligence that was the real killer.

"Child Safety month is important because there are more children dying from accidents and injuries between the ages of four and 15 than from any other disease," Van As pointed out.

Awareness

The organisation, established in 1978, is embarking on a number of awareness programmes and projects for the month of August. They maintain parents must afford 100% protection at birth and over the next five years of the child's life start to slowly educate more and protect less. By age six, parental guidance should shift to 10% protection and 90% education in order for the child to internalise safe behavioural habits.

"CHILDSAFE believes that every child has a right to grow and flourish in a safe environment without the threat of being hurt or abused," said Van As. "Within each child resides a potential to be realised rather than interrupted."

The organisation will host the first Conference of the International Society for Violence and Injury Prevention from 31st August-3rd September 2008 at the University of Cape Town.

Along with medical and sociological experts, speakers at the conference will include Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille who will present a paper on safer cities for children.

CHILDSAFE website

- News24