[Home and leisure accidents in young persons under 25 years of age in the European Union: challenges for tomorrow].

In all industrialised countries, the health status of children and adolescents has improved considerably. Today mortality in youngsters of one year and above is low, with the exception of mortality due to accidents: in childhood and adolescence, accidents (in particular those that occur at home or in leisure activities) represent the major cause of death. The objective of this paper is to assess the epidemiological evolution in the European Union in this respect and to review community actions aimed at reducing home and leisure accidents among youngsters living in the EU-region. Research underlines the multiple factors that bring about injuries caused by accidents and the role of environmental and behavioural factors in particular. The complexity and diversity of these factors suggest that priorities in prevention should be based on the severity of injuries and on the feasibility to prevent them. However, within the European Union, a consistent monitoring of mortality and morbidity related to home and leisure injuries is severely hampered by flaws in reporting current mortality and by the absence of a harmonized reporting system for morbidity. Launched in 1981, the European Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System (EHLASS) is supposed to repair some of those deficiencies, but has not yet been in operation in all member states. Information from both systems is presented in this paper. Prevention policy itself requires coordination at various levels: between behavioural and environmental interventions and between various actors and intermediary groups involved. In the European Union a number of regulatory measures have been taken in order to improve of the safety of youngsters. However, only through clear-targeted programmes and well-coordinated structures and investments one can expect to achieve any change in injury among youngsters.