October 2, 2019
Confronting Firearm Deaths Among Youth In The US
The intersection between violence prevention and public health is a strong one, with the goal of supporting communities to be safer, healthier and to prevent premature death and injury from violence.
On average, 96 people die each day from gun violence in the United States and in total almost 40,000 people were killed from guns in 2017.
Gun violence is the source of continued dialogue within our news media, but what often isn’t talked about is the endemic level of violence that continues on a daily basis in our urban communities.
Within these communities, violence is concentrated within communities of color with high rates of poverty interwoven with other socioeconomic disparities and inequities that have been solidified by limited access to resources and long histories of prejudiced laws and policies.
In 2018, Doctors of the World USA (DotW) launched our domestic project to address the issue of urban gun violence in New York City.
Doctors of the World USA (DotW) seeks to address the issue of urban gun violence and support the field of gun violence prevention by developing programming, resources and training opportunities with community and national partners.
By using a public health led social justice approach, DotW supports efforts to identify effective methods, interventions and approaches to reduce violence in our communities.