Finland leads 31 European countries in tackling child injuries with Greece last

National governments need to do more to prevent children injuring themselves and dying in the home from drowning, falls, burns and scalds, poisoning, and choking or strangulation, according to an assessment of child safety policies in 31 countries across Europe.

The Netherlands leads Europe with the lowest rate of deaths from injury among children and adolescents in 2010 or the most recent year available (4.99 deaths from injury per 100 000 children aged 0 to 19), followed by Sweden (5.02), the UK (6.01), and Germany (6.16).1

The worst performing country is Lithuania (23.91 deaths per 100 000), followed by Bulgaria (17.37), Romania (17.20) and Latvia (16.06). The report covers 27 EU member states plus Croatia, Iceland, Israel, and Norway.

“A child dies every hour of every day in the EU as a …