The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will give the Rhode Island Department of Health (DOH) almost $1 million over five years to prevent injury and violence throughout the state, the department announced Aug. 12.
The grant will help DOH develop alliances with public, private, and nonprofit entities with an interest in tackling injuries (with an emphasis on traumatic brain injuries) and violence issues in the state. It will also fund efforts to gather and analyze data related to these health issues, according to a DOH statement.
Injury and homicide together are the the No. 1 cause of death among Americans ages 1 to 40, claiming some 5.5 million lives every year, according to the CDC. They cost the U.S. heath care system an annual sum of $117 billion, or 10 percent of the nation’s medical expenses.
