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Vital Signs<br />
HEALTH<br />
Exploring<br />
the connection<br />
AND GUN VIOLENCE<br />
by KATIA REINERT<br />
It<br />
was with much shock and sadness that<br />
North American Division president Daniel<br />
Jackson interrupted the proceedings during<br />
an administrative meeting on December 14,<br />
2012, to announce the tragic news of the<br />
fatal shooting of 20 children and six adult staff members<br />
at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown,<br />
Connecticut. Those of us at the meeting stopped what we<br />
were doing and together earnestly prayed for the families<br />
in pain. We couldn’t believe that such young, precious<br />
children, together with teachers, would die in this senseless<br />
way. Evil seemed to prevail.<br />
During such times of inexplicable<br />
tragedy many find comfort in the assurance<br />
that this world is not our home<br />
and that soon the great controversy<br />
between good and evil will end. We look<br />
forward to the day that families will be<br />
reunited with loved ones whom they<br />
lost to death. We yearn to complete the<br />
task given to us by God to share the gospel<br />
message with the world so that He<br />
can return soon and take us home. In<br />
the meantime, however, we cannot<br />
neglect to do everything we can to help<br />
reduce the risk of mass killings in our<br />
communities today.<br />
Violence and Health<br />
Violence in all its forms—domestic,<br />
gun, youth, gender-based, intimate partner,<br />
childhood, elderly, and so forth—has<br />
been linked to physical, mental,<br />
and social health as well as<br />
mortality. The Institute of<br />
Medicine (IOM) and the Centers<br />
for Disease Control have<br />
documented violence as a<br />
major health problem in this<br />
country. The IOM states that<br />
“in 2001, violence accounted<br />
for 45 million disabilityadjusted<br />
life years (DALYs) lost,<br />
with low- and middle-income<br />
countries bearing the largest<br />
burden.” 1 But violence can be<br />
prevented, and the IOM’s<br />
Forum on Global Violence Prevention<br />
(FGVP) is working to<br />
reduce violence worldwide by<br />
promoting research on both<br />
protective and risk factors and<br />
encouraging evidence-based<br />
prevention efforts. The FGVP aims to facilitate<br />
dialogue and exchange by bringing<br />
together experts from all areas of violence<br />
prevention, including faith-based organizations,<br />
to address this concern.<br />
The World Health Organization also<br />
confirms a significant health impact<br />
from this “contagion of violence.” Public<br />
health officials list violence as one of<br />
eight major factors negatively affecting<br />
26 (218) | www.AdventistReview.org | March 14, 2013