UChicago Medicine’s Post

As major medical organizations now recognize, gun violence in the U.S. is a public health crisis. All too often, healthcare professionals find themselves navigating the challenging landscape of providing care in the aftermath of violent incidents, while many also advocate for meaningful change. Yet, the crisis has not abated. In 2023, President Biden issued an executive order aimed at curbing gun violence, but experts say more action is needed. In this live webinar, emergency physicians LJ Punch, MD, of Power4STL and Jeremy Faust, MD, of MedPage Today will explore the pivotal role of healthcare professionals in addressing gun violence and shaping public health policy for a safer future. Register now: https://bit.ly/3QO2NN7

The U.S. Surgeon General's advisory on gun violence as a public health issue represents a significant step towards addressing this epidemic.     Our Center pioneered the public health approach to combatting gun violence. Many of the advisory’s recommendations align with the goals our research has promoted for decades.    By following the approach developed by the experts at the Center and advancing effective, evidence-based strategies, the surgeon general has shown he is amplifying our work to create a safer future for all Americans.  https://lnkd.in/eaVSbQht 

👉 DID YOU KNOW? Every day, more than 120 people in the United States are killed with guns, twice as many are shot and wounded and countless others are impacted by acts of gun violence. [ Everytown Research analysis of CDC, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2018–2022; Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) nonfatal firearm injury data, 2020; and SurveyUSA Market Research Study #26602, 2022. Last updated: 5.7.2024 ]

And if prevention does not work: 🔊 Invest in harm reduction - the evidence is clear. This requires pragmatism on the part of all stakeholders. Addiction is a health issue, not a legal problem. This also applies to people with a crack addiction. The growth of public drug scenes in many European cities is an expression of the lack of harm reduction programmes that are oriented on the needs of users. Harm reduction is a human right. 📢 Let's put this principle of the ECHR into practice.

🌍 Today is World Drug Day. This year's theme is 'The evidence is clear: invest in prevention'. 🔎 Explore our prevention toolkit and join us in making a difference: https://lnkd.in/dPd5fKZ9 #WWD #WorldDrugDay #Prevention #BestPractice

"Without a doubt, the human cost of gun violence—the people who are taken from us and the survivors whose lives are forever altered—is the most devastating. And in addition to the overwhelming human impact of this crisis, we all pay for the enormous economic costs associated with gun violence.  Instead of using taxpayer dollars to clean up after the gun industry's #KillerBusiness, our government should be investing in education and social services to build healthier, safer, more sustainable communities. Our federal, state, and local governments spend a combined average of nearly $35 million each day to deal with the aftermath of gun violence across the country—all while gun manufacturers rake in billions in profits and shirk responsibility for their role in this crisis." "We've done the math on the gun violence crisis—and we're paying for it with our lives and our wallets. The cost of gun violence in the United States each year is five times the nation's budget for the Department of Education. That's why we're calling on gun manufacturers—including Smith & Wesson, Glock, Daniel Defense, and Sturm, Ruger & Co.—to reform their marketing practices, innovate towards safer products, and regulate their supply chain to reduce the flow of illegal guns. "So this weekend, our volunteers mobilized at gun manufacturers' offices in states across the country to draw attention to the price we're all paying for their behavior. We're dedicated to holding them accountable for their deadly business practices. Because the gun industry has spent decades acting as if it were above the law. Gun companies have innovated their products to become even deadlier, marketed their weapons irresponsibly, and supplied gun dealers with heaps of dangerous weapons. This Tax Day, we're focused on holding the gun industry accountable for the damage they've caused in communities across the country."

When will this country get over its sick addiction to guns? We need action, not “thoughts and prayers” after endless mass shootings, like the one I personally experienced in Las Vegas, and after which nothing changed to protect the public. The NRA won’t even stand for research into gun-related violence, part of the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” stick your head in the sand attitude of Republicons. As this article notes: “In 2020, gunshot wounds surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death for children and adolescents in the United States. The rates of firearm mortality for young people in America is nearly six times the rate in Canada, nearly 23 times the rate in Australia and nearly 73 times the rate in the United Kingdom.” Enough already!!!

Despite its profound impact on the overall health and well-being of both individuals and communities, many health systems have not yet addressed gun violence with the same level of priority and commitment with which they have confronted other public health problems, such as tobacco cessation and motor vehicle safety. So, what can and should health systems do? A new commentary by UHF's Joan Guzik explores this critical question: https://lnkd.in/eAumGeM9

Interesting facts about gun violence in the U.S. from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. Updated Global Burden of Disease (GBD) data for 2021 depicts a grave view of the US compared to other countries around the world. The US ranks first for rates of firearm homicides among high-income countries with populations over 10 million. Since 2000, the share of all childhood deaths caused by gun violence in the US has increased by about 33%. US states have high age-adjusted firearm homicide rates similar to other countries: Washington, DC’s rate is similar to those of Brazil and Jamaica, which rank ninth and tenth globally. New Hampshire’s rate is similar to that of Chile. Age-adjusted firearm homicide rates in the US are 33 times greater than in Australia and 77 times greater than in Germany. We

The courage to call it what it is. The report and recommendations are well presented, with sobering graphics, and includes a Public Health Approach to Firearm Injury and Violence Prevention. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/e67g27-8 https://lnkd.in/eZBXYD9s