ACCESS TO WAR WEAPONS AND INJURY PREVENTION ACTIVITIES AMONG CHILDRENIN CROATIA

To investigate the exposure of children in Croatia to war weapons, we surveyed random samples of children (n = 986) aged 11 to 16 years and of parents (1469) of children aged 7 to 16 years in April 1994 in four war-affected districts in Croatia. The children's survey indicated th at 57% of the boys and 36% of the girls had access to weapons at home, at some other place, or at both. Eighteen percent of the boys and 5% of the girls reported playing with weapons. The parents' survey showed that 68% of the households possessed weapons, with 19% of the childre n having access to weapons at home. Influenced by preliminary findings of these surveys, the Croatian government modified its national campa ign (one partially supported by international aid) to prevent war-rela ted injuries among children. This study demonstrates the feasibility o f scientific evaluation of humanitarian aid programs.