Results of an exercise to estimate the costs of interpersonal violence in Jamaica.
This report describes the application of a draft version of the World Health Organization (WHO)/ United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Manual for estimating the economic costs of injuries due to interpersonal and self-directed violence to measure costs of injuries from interpersonal violence.


METHODS
Fatal incidence data was obtained from the Jamaica Constabulary Force. The incidence of nonfatal violence-related injuries that required hospitalization was estimated using data obtained from patients treated at and/or admitted to three Type A government hospitals in 2006.


RESULTS
During 2006, direct medical cost (J$2.1 billion) of injuries due to interpersonal violence accounted for about 12% of Jamaica's total health budget while productivity losses due to violence-related injuries accounted for approximately J$27.5 billion or 160% of Jamaica's total health expenditure and 4% of Jamaica's Gross Domestic Product.


CONCLUSIONS
The availability of accurate and reliable data of the highest quality from health-related information systems is critical for providing useful data on the burden of violence and injury to decision-makers. As Ministries of Health take a leading role in violence and injury prevention, data collection and information systems must have a central role. This study describes the results of one approach to examining the economic burden of interpersonal violence in developing countries where the burden of violence is heaviest. The WHO-CDC manual also tested in Thailand and Brazil is a first step towards generating a reference point for resource allocation, priority setting and prevention advocacy.
Ward
E
E
Violence Prevention Alliance, Jamaica, The University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies. ward@kasnet.com
McCartney
T
T
Brown
D W
DW
Grant
A
A
Butchart
A
A
Taylor
M
M
Bhoorasingh
P
P
Wong
H
H
Morris
C
C
Deans-Clarke
A M
AM
East
J
J
Valentine
C
C
Dundas
S
S
Pinnock
C
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007563:Jamaica / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014754:Violence / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult