Speaker
Description
Child death review (CDR) is the initiative collecting information about all deaths of children and identifying factors contributing to deaths that may help prevent future child deaths. In Japan, the government initiated the Model Project for CDR in seven Japanese prefectures including Shiga Prefecture in 2020. Since then, all child deaths (approximately 40 to 50, annually) have been deeply analyzed with multidisciplinary specialists and proposal for preventing deaths have submitted to the prefectural governor, annually. In 2021, a foreign child had died of drowning while playing in the river. After death scene investigation, forensic autopsy, interviews for the family members and witness, we found that there had been a lack of awareness of the risks. Foreign nationals may exhibit differences in safety behaviors due to cultural and customary difference. In the proposal, the issue, “safety promotion for foreigners to prevent accidental deaths” was included. Following this proposal, public awareness campaigns regarding hazard warnings and safety measures have been conducted in multiple languages. After that, no more foreign children have died of accident in Shiga Prefecture. This presentation emphasizes the importance of safety promotion for foreigners based on the regional CDR.