WHO Collaborating Centre for Violence and Injury Prevention

Director's message:

Welcome to the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre (WHO CC) for Injury and Violence Prevention webpage.

The significance of the injury problem worldwide, and specifically in developing countries, is staggering. There are an estimated 5.2 million injury deaths worldwide every year - in other words, over 14,000 people die of injury every day and many more suffer lifelong impairments as a result of serious injury.

Since 2005, MUARC has been contributing to the WHO’s call to action to address the global burden of injury, through its role as a WHO CC for Violence and Injury Prevention.

MUARC was awarded designated status as a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Injury and Violence Prevention for the Western Pacific Region in 2005, and in 2020, was awarded Global status, extending the reach of our activity and impact.

With colleagues across Monash, the Centre supports and promotes the principles of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and its research and capacity building contributes to practical solutions for achieving safe, sustainable and resilient communities, particularly for SDG 3 Good Health and Well Being (e.g. SDG 3.6 for road safety) and SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Contributing partners in the MUARC WHO CC for Violence and Injury Prevention include the Monash Alfred Injury Network (MAIN) and the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM).

Working for injury-free communities around the world

MUARC works with communities in the region and around the world to reduce the incidence and impact of injury and violence, including through:

• Training workshops for researchers, policy managers and leaders from low-and middle-income countries
• Training programs on road safety, drowning prevention, injury prevention, injury surveillance and care of the injured
• Mentoring of pathologists and clinicians from regional countries in the implementation of WHO injury surveillance and clinical registry guidelines
• Advice and advocacy on injury and violence prevention

Our experts have assisted the development and monitoring of regional injury prevention, including data systems, research, training, information exchange and policy and planning developments.

We have also worked with the WHO regional Office for the Western Pacific to develop, implement and evaluate a regional injury prevention strategy .

What is a WHO CC?

WHO collaborating centres are institutions such as research institutes, parts of universities or academies, which are designated by the Director-General to carry out activities in support of the World Health Organization's programmes. MUARC is one of over 800 WHO collaborating centres in over 80 Member States working with WHO on areas such as nursing, occupational health, communicable diseases, nutrition, mental health, chronic diseases and health technologies. For more information on WHO collaborating centres, please click here.

Australian Network of WHO Collaborating Centres

MUARC is a member of the Australian Network of WHO Collaborating Centres, established under the auspices of the Global Health Alliance Australia. Funded by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, the Network supports and promotes the fifty WHO CCs based in Australia.

We will bring you updates on our Injury and Violence Prevention activities as well as regional updates on this website through the year; and for the latest news from the Network please click here.

Director
Stuart Newstead

Introducing MUARC’s WHO CC Interns:

MUARC currently supports two WHO CC Interns who provide leadership within the Centre on WHO CC activities and promote its work across the University.

Dr Carlyn Muir - Collaborating Centre Co-ordinator

Carlyn is a Senior Research Fellow at Monash University Accident Research Centre. With qualifications in psychology and public health, she has a particular interest in safety governance and culture across a diverse range of injury prevention topics. She has experience in research, policy and evaluation in road safety and occupational safety, both nationally and internationally. Carlyn has managed a number of large scale safety projects, with a focus on the prevention and management of injury among high risk groups (for example, emergency services and work-related drivers). This involves the application of psychological and health theory to understand and influence behaviour within complex systems. A strong focus of this research is to develop policy recommendations that are evidence-based, practical and achievable. Carlyn also co-ordinates MUARC’s activities as a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Violence and Injury Prevention, which focuses on research, advocacy and capacity building.

Dr Sara Liu - Collaborating Centre intern

Sara is a Research Fellow at the Monash University Accident Research Centre, and also a registered Clinical Psychologist. In 2018, she was appointed the MUARC WHO Violence and Injury Prevention Collaborating Centre intern. Sara’s research expertise extends across road safety to injury outcomes. More specifically, her interest areas include trauma, the management of substance abuse and other interpersonal-related issues. Over her time at MUARC, Sara has worked on a number of road safety projects, including the safety and wellbeing of pedestrians who are blind or have low vision, alcohol interlock expansion, illicit drugs and driving, and the TAC funded Enhanced Crash Investigation Study (ECIS). Further, Sara has also led other TAC projects to examine ways of identifying clients at risk of poor outcomes following road injury and options to provide aligned support services to enhance their recovery process. As part of her MUARC WHO internship role, Sara aims to explore opportunities for research, advocacy and capacity building in violence and injury prevention.