Last update - 00:00 11/06/2007
Report: Injuries due to violence up 40% in 7 years
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent
The number of people wounded in incidents of violence has risen by 40 percent in recent years, a new report on trauma injuries reveals.
The report, compiled with the assistance of the Health Ministry, relies on data from the major hospitals between 1998 and 2005.
In 2005, the emergency services attended to 1,644 victims of violence, of whom 13 percent were in serious condition. The most common cause of injury, according to the report, was stab wounds, accounting for 38.8 percent of victims. Another 11 percent were wounded by firearms, of whom over a quarter were in serious condition.
The report also showed that 80 percent of all victims are men, and more than 50 percent were aged 15 to 29. Another 25 percent were aged 30 to 44.
"We can assume that there is a connection between these violent incidents and the atmosphere that terrorist activities have created over the past years," said Dr. Kobi Peleg of the Center for Trauma Research. "The year 2002 was worst in terms of terrorist activities, and it also saw an increase in injuries caused by violence."
According to the report, 2004 saw a record number of injuries as a result of violence, with such injuries accounting for 7 percent of all patients in trauma centers nationwide.
The data were collected by the Health Ministry, the National Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research, and the Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research.