Violence Health Burden goes beyond Physical Injuries: WHO
![Violence and impact on health](https://d.medicaldaily.com/en/full/221481/violence-impact-health.jpg?w=500&f=77f5611d1f2d98a7aa4ccfce853d584a)
Violence is a significant public health problem costing countries billions of dollars each year in health care, a new study from the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
More than 1.5 million people die every year due to violence, meaning that more than 4,000 people are killed every day somewhere around the world and its impact on health goes beyond physical injury, according to the study published Friday.
"The health impact of violence is not limited to physical injury. Long-term effects can include depression, mental disorders, suicide attempts, chronic pain syndromes, unwanted pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections," the World Health Organization emphasized.
Also violence impacts young, economically productive people. Homicide and suicide are heavy contributors to global health rates among men aged 15-44 years.
Of those killed by violence every year, just over 50% commit suicide, over 35% die because of injuries inflicted by another person and over 11% as a direct result of war or some other form of collective violence, according to WHO.
About 90% of deaths occur in low and middle income countries. Within countries the highest death rates occur among those who live in the poorest communities, the study detailed.
Experts encouraged countries to implement violence prevention strategies such as education mostly for children and young adults, social programs that promote positive and nurturing family relationships and enactment and enforcement of laws that reduce access to alcohol and guns.