2,248 West Virginia residents died due to injuries in 20161
All injury related deaths represented 10% of total deaths in West Virginia in 20161
4,310 West Virginia residents were hospitalized due to injuries in 20152
All injury related hospitalizations in West Virginia represented 4% in 20132
In 2014, on average 5.5 people died daily in West Virginia from injuries sustained from an unintentional or intentional injury or violent encounter1. Since many of these deaths are preventable, efforts are underway to treat injury as a public health concern. This public health approach utilizes strategies of surveillance, prevention education, outreach, and promotion of safe behaviors implemented to reduce and prevent the number of deaths among West Virginians.
The West Virginia Violence and Injury Prevention Program (WV VIPP) plays a critical role in informing all types of policy strategies that prevent injury, violence, and their consequences. The WVVIPP functions to support the implementation and evaluation of state, regional, and locally led evidence based strategies and activities aimed to reduce and prevent injuries and injury related deaths.
Housed within West Virginia's State Title V Agency, the Bureau for Public Health, Office of Maternal, Child and Family Health, the WVVIPP has built, strengthened, and sustained collaborative relationships inside and outside the state health agency. These relationships have been sustainably institutionalized via memoranda of agreement.
The Program is collaborating with these partners to implement and evaluate evidence-based strategies to address:
1Data Source: West Virginia Health Statistics Center, Vital Statistics System.
2Data Source: West Virginia Health Care Authority Hospital Inpatient Billing Data.