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Child Safety Month 2008 -
August 2008. more

Ten Key facts about Child Injury (PDF) Click here

First United Nations Global Road Safety Week 23 – 29 April 2007 (PDF) Click here

Choosing a swimming teacher - a guide for parents Click Here

First Aid for Burns: What to do. Graphically presented.
Click here (PDF)

Watch That Child! -
Child safety is no accident. more

Safety Tips (English) - Points to note around the house - graphically presented. click here

Safety Chart (English) - Savlons Family Safety Chart - graphically presented. click here

CHILD SAFETY MONTH 2008

AUGUST 2008 IS CHILD SAFETY MONTH

ACCIDENTS DON’T JUST HAPPEN -

CHILDSAFE LAUNCHES

CHILDSAFE, the country’s largest advocacy group for child accident prevention, has revealed that accidental trauma kills more children between 4-15 years of age in the world than any other disease and child trauma is a bigger problem in South Africa than in most other countries.

This as South Africa enters Child Safety Month through August.

“Accidents don’t just happen,” says Prof. Sebastian Van As, National President of CHILDSAFE. “Yet trauma is the greatest danger to our children, far more so than any other disease.”

CHILDSAFE will be launching a variety of activities during Child Safety Month in an attempt to address the crisis proportions afflicting South Africa’s children in terms of trauma through accident.

“If you take a walk through the surgical wards of the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, more than half of all patients are here through accidents – caused mostly through careless incident,” says Prof. Van As who cites road accidents, drowning, burns and poisoning as the major areas of concern.

CHILDSAFE has evolved from a movement which emanated in the late 70s, founded on a growing concern about the number of child injuries in South Africa sustained from suburban swimming pool incidents to township burns.

“For those of us whose lives have not been touched by the tragedy of a child accident it is difficult to understand the turmoil associated with it. Yet, when this happens, entire families are caught up in the loss with feelings of guilt and a sense of failure – all due to one careless incident,” says Prof. Van As.

CHILDSAFE maintains that at birth parents must afford 100% protection and over the next five years slowly start to educate more and protect less. By age 6, parental guidance should shift to 10% protection and 90% education in order for the child to internalize safe behavioural habits.

The Child Safety Centre was established in 1978 as part of the Department of Paediatric Surgery at Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town and 10 years later became the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of South Africa, evolving now into CHILDSAFE.

“In doing so we are concurrent with other countries that regard preventative education as the way to combat childhood injuries rather than trying to cure childhood injuries with expensive trauma facilities at hospitals and clinics,” adds Prof Van As.

In helping to create a safer world for children, CHILDSAFE advocates legislation (such as mandatory car seat-buckles) and aims to reduce and prevent intentional and unintentional injuries through research, education and community-based programmes, in association with government and NGOs.

Of late, CHILDSAFE has also initiated programmes and information drives pertaining to child molestation.
 
“CHILDSAFE believes that every child has a right to grow and flourish in a safe environment without the threat of being hurt or abused. That within each child resides a potential to be realised rather than interrupted,” says Prof. Van As.

And Child Safety Month is just the stuff to provide the platform for awareness.

For more information on how you can assist or for resources contact CAPFSA at Tel 021 685 5208 or