Sports Injuries to U.S.High School Athletes

The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reports on sports injuries to high school athletes. About 2 million injuries per year occur. Comstock et al. summarize the results of a pilot injury surveillance system using an Internet-based data collection tool.

CIPN Project Assistant Opening

Our wonderful project assistant, Elyse Chiapello, has obtained full time employment. We wish her well, and we have an opening for this part-time position -- which may be combined with another part-time epidemiology position. The deadline to apply is September 22.

Parents' Interests in Safety vs. Children's Risks

McDonald et al. showed the interests of parents in children's safety risks to be different from children's actual risks, in the October 2006 issue (Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 388-395) of Health Promotion Practice. Parents were interested in poisoning and car crashes. While children were as risk for poisoning, they were much more at risk for fires and falls than they were for car crashes. The authors conclude that asking "parents' interests prior to counseling may help to identify priority areas for counseling as well as dispel myths and unfounded fears regarded childhood injury risks." The article is called "Do Urban Parents' Interests in Safety Topics Match Their Children's Injury Risks?"

Sermon Contest Held by FaithTrust Institute

The FaithTrust Institute is holding a contest to encourage and support religious leaders to preach on sexual and domestic violence. The winner may designate their favorite violence prevention organization to receive a gift of $1,000. The deadline is November 30, 2006.

The latest newsletter and how to subscribe to it, as well as many other resources and services, are available on the website of this international, multifaith organization.

APHA Releases Brief on Public Health Work Force

APHA recently released "The Public Health Workforce Shortage: Left Unchecked, Will We Be Protected?," an issue brief that explores the precipitous decline in public health professionals and resources and its impact on the health of Americans, and puts forth key legislative and policy recommendations. The recommendations range from creating federally funded scholarship and loan repayment programs for public health students and professionals to increasing health professions funding through the Health Resources and Services Administration. See the news release on the topic for a summary of the issues.