Media relase from associate minister for ACC Pansy Wong

New Zealand has successfully won the bid to host the 11th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion. It will run in Wellington from October 1 until October 5, 2012 with the theme Connecting pathways for a vibrant and safer future.

Associate Minister for ACC Pansy Wong says it is an honour for the World Health Organisation (WHO) to give New Zealand the opportunity to host the conference and also shows considerable faith in the work being carried out in New Zealand.

"It is a huge honour for New Zealand to be chosen to host this event. Maybe it reflects that New Zealand is rare in having a national injury prevention strategy," Mrs Wong says.

"We also have 16 communities which have achieved Safe Communities status having met the requirements of the World Health Organisation.

"There were 1200 delegates at the 2010 conference in London, imagine what that could do for Wellington's economy. Conference delegates are international and diverse and include injury prevention practitioners, researchers and policy makers.''


New Zealand's National Organising Committee for the 2012 conference (NOC) is planning a range of activities to promote the conference.

The NOC includes representatives from ACC, Safe Communities Foundation New Zealand, and the Otago University Injury Prevention Research Unit.

Mrs Wong says the overall goal of the conference is to strengthen the field of injury prevention and safety promotion internationally, by facilitating the exchange of scientific knowledge.

She says the conference represents a significant opportunity for New Zealand and for our Injury Prevention sector to enhance its ability to reduce the rate of injury in New Zealand.

"This series of World Conferences on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion is designed to find ways to reduce violence and injuries, which take the lives of 5.8 million people every year and disable millions more,'' Etienne Krug, Director of Department of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability, WHO, says.

"The International Organizing Committee is pleased that the host of the 11th World Conference will be New Zealand, a country with a long-standing history of addressing violence and injuries."

Full details on the conference are available at www.safety2012.org.nz.