By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
Fewer children here are dying from unnatural causes thanks to an improvement in areas such as road safety. But the nation still ranks third in the number of accidental and avoidable child deaths among the 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to the latest statistics.
The National Statistical Office (NSO) said Wednesday that an average of about 8.7 out of every 100,000 children aged under 15 lost their lives in 2005 in traffic accidents, drowning and other incidents. The top two were Mexico with 13.6 and the United States with 9.2. The average was 5.6.
Traffic accidents accounted for 42.7 percent of the total, followed by drowning at 20 percent. Murder and suicides took up 8.7 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively. Boys accounted for 64 percent of the total.
``The cases of child deaths have declined over the years thanks to better road safety and other social infrastructure. But many children here are still killed in car accidents and from other causes. The data also found that kids from low-income families are more likely to encounter various hazards,'' an NSO official said.
He said the government should put more effort into upgrading road safety and welfare-related facilities in poor residential areas.
From 1991 through 1995, Korea's figure stood at 25.6 children out of every 100,000, larger than Mexico's 19.8 and Portugal's 17.8. In 2007, the number fell ― by one-third to 6.7 ― though no comparable figures were available for other OECD countries.
From 2005 through 2007, an annual average of 666 children were killed, with boys accounting for 64 percent of the total. Children were more prone to fatal accidents on Sundays, accounting for 16.3 percent of the total. Nearly 8 percent of child deaths happened at 6 p.m. In spring and summer when children are most physically active outdoors, they are more likely to become a victim.
By region, children living in rural areas are more subject to accidental deaths mainly because of poor road safety. By province, about 12.4 children per 100,000 died in South Jeolla, followed by North Gyeongsang with 12.2.
leehs@koreatimes.co.kr
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