The National Violence Prevention Network (NVPN), a coalition of local, state, and national organizations dedicated to violence prevention, applauds Congress for coming to an agreement to fund some of the most pressing public health needs in the federal budget, including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) and gun violence research.
NVPN is very pleased to see the inclusion of funding for firearm injury and mortality prevention research for the first time in more than 20 years. This $25 million, split between the CDC and the National Institutes of Health, is a necessary step forward in addressing the firearm violence epidemic in our country. More than 100 people are shot to death every day in America. Nearly 40,000[1] people in the United States were killed with guns in 2017, reaching the highest number of gun deaths in 40 years. Without adequate data and research on these deaths, it is impossible to implement evidence-based public policies to address this public health issue.
Continued nationwide funding for NVDRS is vital in the effort to reduce and prevent violent deaths, including homicides and suicides. Like other public health issues, preventing violent death requires a detailed understanding of its causes. NVDRS is the only comprehensive, linked reporting system that collects and centralizes information on violent deaths, which provides researchers, law enforcement, and public health officials with the opportunity to better understand the circumstances of violent deaths and the contexts in which they occur.
NVPN thanks Congress for its bipartisan work in passing this bill to fund important public health priorities and looks forward to building on that work in 2020.
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The National Violence Prevention Network (NVPN) is a broad-based coalition of local, state, and national organizations dedicated to violent death prevention by advocating for the full implementation of the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) in the United States and other public health policies that prevent violent death.
Media Contact:
Drew Wallace
Communications Specialist
dwallace@acpm.org
(202) 602-6040
[1] https://lawcenter.giffords.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Giffords-Law-Center-Facts-about-Gun-Violence.pdf