Injury Center Timeline 1992-2022

Logo for CDC's Injury Center's 3oth anniversary

The Institute of Medicine’s and National Academy of Sciences’ 1985 and 1989 reports prompted a national call for a consolidated federal focus on injury prevention. Key goals: build an infrastructure; bring the public health perspective to injury prevention; and apply the same proven prevention techniques used for infectious disease transmission and chronic illness to reducing injury and its consequences.

Injury Center 30th Anniversary Timeline of Significant Events
1990s
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    1992

    CDC establishes the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control on June 25, 1992.

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    1993

    Health Affairs publishes a sentinel article about violence prevention in which CDC scientists call for a new vision: people and communities approaching violence as a problem that can be understood and changed. This vision emphasizes prevention and how science is integral to identifying effective policies and programs.

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    1994

    The Family Violence Prevention Services Act began supporting the work of Coordinated Community Responses addressing intimate partner violence at the local level. In 2010, these early community demonstration projects were officially replaced with the Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances (DELTA) program. The reauthorization continues to direct CDC to fund state domestic violence coalitions for the purpose of funding and supporting local efforts to prevent intimate partner violence.

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    1996

    CDC releases findings from the first nationwide investigation of school-associated violent death and establishes an ongoing surveillance system to describe and monitor these events.

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    1998

    CDC begins a three-year program to reduce injuries from house fires by funding 14 states to install long-lasting smoke alarms in high-risk homes with young children.

2000s
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    2000

    Following the mass shooting at Columbine HS, CDC funds 10 colleges and universities to establish the National Academic Centers of Excellence on Youth Violence.

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    2000

    Addressing gaps in state injury prevention programs, CDC funds 24 states to develop injury surveillance and prevention programs. States with limited resources can now build and maintain programs to address state-identified injury priorities.

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    2000

    CDC introduces WISQARS (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System), an online database that provides injury data to a wide variety of audiences.

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    2001

    The Violence Against Women Act shifts responsibility for the Rape Prevention Education Grant to the Injury Center. CDC’s injury prevention team funds states and territories to strengthen awareness, establish hotlines, and further education and training. This move puts CDC injury prevention funding into every state and US territory.

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    2002

    CDC and WHO produce the World Report on Violence and Health—the first comprehensive report on violence as a global public health problem.

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    2002

    CDC establishes the National Violent Death Reporting System.

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    2002

    CDC works with partners to launch the nation’s first comprehensive toll-free poison hotline.

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    2003

    CDC publishes Heads Up: Brain Injury in Your Practice for doctors.

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    2006

    CDC publishes a landmark article that studied a dramatic increase in poisoning mortality rates and compared it to the sales of opioid analgesics nationwide.

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    2007

    CDC conducts a national survey on violence against children in Swaziland that would later be known as the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS). Currently, over 24 countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean engage with VACS. Data from VACS help countries plan for HIV/AIDS epidemic control and support the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) goal of an HIV/AIDS-free generation. Violence, particularly gender-based violence, is both a risk factor and a potential consequence of HIV.

2010s
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    2011

    CDC releases first data report from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.

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    2012

    NCIPC launches first Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries (STEADI) toolkit to help reduce fall risk among older adults

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    2013

    CDC begins to fund five state health departments (and expands to seven) to implement the four goals of the Essentials for Childhood Framework. The goals promote safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments and prevent child abuse and neglect.

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    2014

    NCIPC releases Motor Vehicle Prioritizing Interventions and Cost Calculator for States (MV PICCS) tool

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    2015

    NCIPC is appropriated $20M to combat the opioid overdose crisis.

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    2015

    NCIPC provides overdose prevention funding to 29 states through Prevention for States initiative.

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    2015

    CDC releases a report showing that injuries cost the US $671B in 2013.

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    2016

    CDC releases Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain

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    2016

    NCIPC provides over $50M to 14 jurisdictions through the Data-Driven Prevention Initiative to improve data collection and analysis, behavior change strategies, and community programs centered on opioid misuse, abuse, and overdose

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    2016

    CDC, with multiple international agencies, releases INSPIRE: Seven Strategies for Ending Violence Against Children

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    2017

    Rx Awareness Campaign is launched with a focus on reaching people between the ages of 25 and 54 who have taken opioids at least once for medical or nonmedical reasons.

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    2018

    With additional appropriations, CDC support to states for overdose work more than triples from the prior year, reaching almost $245M.

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    2018

    CDC releases a Vital Signs report showing increases in suicide rates in nearly every state, with increases of more than 30% in 25 states.

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    2019

    The Opioid Rapid Response Program, a coordinated federal effort led by CDC and other agencies to mitigate drug overdose risk, is launched.

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    2019

    CDC releases a Vital Signs report showing that preventing adverse childhood experiences could reduce up to 1.9 million cases of heart disease, 2.5 million cases of overweight/obesity, and 21 million cases of depression.

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    2019

    CDC publishes the first findings from Dating Matters showing the comprehensive teen dating violence prevention program effectively reduces teen dating violence, peer violence, and bullying.

2020s
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    2020

    CDC funds 18 research studies to better understand the underlying causes of firearm violence and effective ways to keep individuals, families, schools, and communities safe from firearm-related injuries, deaths, and crime.

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    2020

    CDC receives its first congressional appropriations to address adverse childhood experiences and child sexual abuse, public health issues that are linked to many negative health and social outcomes across the lifespan.

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    2020

    CDC receives an appropriation to address the growing problem of suicide in the United States. The agency funds 11 state health departments and one university to implement and evaluate a comprehensive public health approach to suicide prevention, with attention to populations at higher risk.

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    2020

    CDC funds eight city, county, and state health departments to address multiple forms of violence impacting adolescents and young adults in communities with high rates of violence. They are addressing youth violence, teen dating violence, other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and conditions that put communities at greater risk for violence.

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    2022

    CDC releases a Vital Signs report describing how firearm homicide rates increased nearly 35% from 2019 to 2020, with disparities by race/ethnicity and poverty level widening and firearm suicide rates remaining high.