Physical, sexual and psychological abuses pose health risk: study

Physical, sexual and psychological abuse threatens the health and well being of millions of people globally on a daily basis. People ages 15 to 44, suicide and homicide are the fifth and sixth leading causes of death, between three and seven million adolescents and young adults receive hospital treatment yearly for violence-related injuries.
This was revealed in a new study conducted by the WHO with the title of "Third Milestones of a Global Campaign for Violence Prevention 2007". The WHO's study showed that countries around the world are scaling up efforts to halt domestic violence and its health consequences.
The report credited Malaysia with developing crisis centers for victims of child abuse and setting up services for survivors of domestic violence in all government hospitals. Mozambique has developed systems for recording the details of violent deaths and injuries, it said, adding that Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom had published their first national reports on violence and health.
"Globally, the greatest challenge to scaling up violence prevention efforts remains a lack of investment in scientific, large-scale outcome evaluation studies, especially from low and middle-income countries, where both the burden of violence and the cost of failure to invest in effective prevention are highest," noted Etienne Krug, Director of WHO's Department of Violence and Injury Prevention. "With those studies in hand, we would be well placed to scale up and globalise prevention."
According to a message received here on Tuesday, the report also illustrated the impact of violence world-wide, noting that in 2002, the latest year for which global estimates are available, roughly 1.6 million people died as a result of violence, with over 90 percent of these deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries.
The report also observed that physical, sexual and psychological abuse threatens the health and well being of millions of people globally on a daily basis. Evidence reflects that a majority of cases of violence-related death and suffering is avoidable through such measures as parent training; home visitation services; reducing alcohol availability and access to firearms; helping high-risk adolescents complete their schooling; and changing cultural norms condoning the use of violence.
When contacted, Head Department of Psychiatry Fatima Jinnah Medical College (FJMC) Professor Dr Haroon Rashid Chaudhry told this scribe that suicide cases are on rise in the country due to high expectations of people. He urged the people to simplify their lives and show patience in their routine life. He was of the view that by practising religion, we can avoid stress and anxiety, which is rampant at horrifying level.