The US Surgeon General declares gun violence a public health crisis

Doctors applauded the U.S. Surgeon General’s decision to declare gun violence a national public health crisis.

In what could lead to public campaigns like those used to reduce smoking, drunk driving and traffic fatalities, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a milestone “Advisory of the Surgeon General on Gun Violence,” including one Advice of 40 pages calling for everything from more funding for gun violence prevention research to changing how health care professionals should counsel patients about firearm storage.

The American Medical Association, the nation’s largest physician group with more than 200,000 members, was one of 10 national physician groups to applaud the Surgeon General for his statement and for “outlining an evidence-based public health approach to addressing gun violence.”

“Across the country, doctors are treating patients and families affected by gun violence,” said AMA President Dr. Bruce A. Scott. “We see the physical and emotional damage firsthand, and we dread the all-too-common conversations with parents, spouses and even children in which we tell them their loved one didn’t make it. “Gun violence is indeed a public health crisis in the United States, and data now shows that it affects the majority of Americans.”

To be on the safe side, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says. more than half of American adults or their family members have “experienced a firearm-related incident in their lifetime.” And over the past decade, the number of people who have died from gun-related injuries, including “suicides, homicides, and accidental deaths,” has increased, and gun violence has now become the norm. main cause of death among children and adolescents,” HHS said Tuesday.

Advice called for “critical research investments” such as improving data sources and data collection; examining the short- and long-term outcomes of gun violence and “conducting implementation research to improve the effectiveness of prevention strategies,” according to HHS.

Additionally, the advisory called for community risk reduction and education prevention strategies, such as “incorporating elements of organizational violence prevention and emergency preparedness into safety programs” and “encouraging health care systems to facilitate safe storage education.” Actions on mental health and related support should also take place.

In total, leaders from ten of the nation’s medical organizations and the YWCA issued statements in accordance with the Surgeon General’s advice. They can be read here.

“The American College of Physicians has long advocated for a public health approach and common sense measures to help curb this escalating crisis,” said American College of Physicians, Executive Vice President and CEO. Dr. Darilyn V. Moyer and chairman Dr. Isaac O. Opole. “We continue to address firearm injuries through public policy and advocacy, the publication of related research and through events that examine the impact on clinicians and the public, and by working with others to effect change. We commend the Office of the Surgeon General for raising awareness about this growing epidemic.”