England child death rates among lowest

Child death rates in the England are lower than those in the US, Australia and parts of Scandinavia, according to in a seven-nation comparative study on safeguarding.

Child death rates due to unintentional and intentional injury, negligence, maltreatment and physical assault are lowest in England, at 0.24 per 100,000 cases. The highest, in the US, is 3.67.

The UK government study, which also includes Canada, Denmark, Finland and Norway, covers the period 2005-7.

“Mortality due to injury and assault in the UK appear to be similar to [the rate] in other European countries in the sample and was generally lower than that of Australia, Canada and the US,” the study stated.

England also has the second highest rate of child protection referrals (53.9 referrals per 1,000), behind only Australia (67.9 per 1,000) where there is a mandatory duty to report child safeguarding concerns.

The study also revealed that a high proportion of referrals was made by health professionals and police in England, Australia and the US.

In England, 23.5% of referrals were made by police, 13% by health professionals and 12.8% by education. This contrasted with Norway, where referrals from child welfare services, followed by education and parents, were most common.

“This is likely to reflect the less adversarial and family support-oriented child welfare system in Norway,” the report said.

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