Programs to reduce the number of fatal injuries among seniors in Jing'an District, Shanghai, appear to have worked, with the death toll plummeting, statistics have revealed.

The proportion of seniors over the age of 60 in Jing'an has hit the highest in the city, according to a symposium of WHO Safe Communities in Shanghai yesterday.

According to district statistics, the population of elderly people exceeded 24 percent of the total 309,800 residents this year.

Although faced with the most prominent aging problem, the injury mortality of the elderly aged over 60 decreased from 140.69 per 100,000 seniors in 2003 to 102.48 per 100,000 people last year.

Meanwhile, the average life expectancy in the district increased to 82.53.

"Accidental falls and traffic accidents are the two main causes of death among seniors," said Qiao Zhongqiang, chief of the district public health bureau. "Among the 398 patients in hospital for injury in 2003, more than half were seniors over the age of 60, and those injured from falling or accidents comprised 80 percent."

To counter the problem, the district set up long-term, comprehensive programs of injury prevention and control to all elderly residents.

One of the most important was the fall prevention program including balance training, which has been praised by the World Health Organization.

"This increases personal balance function for seniors, and we hold lectures on fall prevention spoken by geriatric rehabilitation experts to eliminate falling risk factors at home," Qiao said.

Experts went to the seniors' homes to ensure sufficient lighting and installed antiskid measures in kitchens and toilets. Jing'an became the first district in Chinese mainland to be named as an International Safety Community, which is considered to have reached international safety standards.

Three other local communities were also named as International Safety Communities - Kangjian community in Xuhui District, Hongqiao Town in Minhang District and the Huamu community in the city's Pudong New Area.

(Shanghai Daily December 20, 2007)