CDC Awards $7.5 Million to Expand the National Violent Death Reporting System to 32 States
The funding will expand NVDRS from 18 to 32 participating states
The CDC has announced new state recipients for the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) according to a news release. $7.5 million in funding will expand NVDRS from 18 to 32 participating states and allow for greater collection of critical data on violent deaths.
“More than 55,000 Americans died because of homicide or suicide in 2011. That’s an average of more than six people dying a violent death every hour,” said Daniel M. Sosin, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P., acting director of CDC’s National Center of Injury Prevention and Control, in the release. “This is disheartening and we know many of these deaths can be prevented. Participating states will be better able to use state-level data to develop, implement, and evaluate prevention and intervention efforts to stop violent deaths.”
NVDRS is the only state-based violent death reporting system that helps states understand when and how violent deaths occur. NVDRS links data from law enforcement, coroners and medical examiners, vital statistics, and crime laboratories to obtain the most comprehensive data available on homicides and suicides, as well as unintentional firearm injuries. States can use the data to develop tailored prevention and intervention efforts to reduce violent deaths.
According to the CDC website, violence-related deaths and injuries cost the United States an estimated $107 billion a year in medical care and lost productivity.