There's an interesting article in today's Saskatoon Star Phoenix that talks about the single most important measure to reduce motor vehicle injuries - the removal of the ability to litigate. (No-fault insurance sound public health policy)

The article goes on to make comparisons of jurisdictions and the positive impacts for those jurisdictions with no-fault insurance. While the article was quite interesting, I feel it completely missed the point. The bottom line is that the single most important measure to reduce motor vehicle, or any other types of injuries for that matter, is preventing the injury from occurring in the first place.

It is frustrating to me that whether we're writing about it, talking about it or embarking on programs, injury prevention is often confused with or buried underneath, mitigation of the loss once an injury has occurred. We seem to keep putting resources into treatment and working to reduce the potential loss or cost of an injury once it has occurred but aren't we also missing the point as a society? When will we have the courage to make a stand and insist resources be put towards injury and disease prevention? When will the common topic of discussion be about prevention and the huge benefits that follow? Soon I hope! Otherwise, this injury epidemic will continue to take its silent toll on the people of our great province.