title: Results of an exercise to estimate the costs of interpersonal violence in Jamaica.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Violence Prevention Alliance, Jamaica, The University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies. ward@kasnet.com
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McCartney
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Butchart
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhoorasingh
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Deans-Clarke
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: East
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Valentine
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dundas
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pinnock
mesh_terms: 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