GENEVA, Switzerland, June 9 (UPI) -- Violence-related injuries pose economic costs that eat up over 4 percent of some countries' gross national product, the World Health Organization reported.
A new WHO report focuses on the cost of violence to countries worldwide, relating health expenditures as a percentage of GNP -- the total value of a nation's output of goods and services -- where some hard-hit countries, such as Brazil and Columbia, rank at nearly 4.3 percent.
It is estimated 1.6 million people around the world die from violence each year, and millions more are injured and experience subsequent physical and mental health problems, WHO reported.
In the United States, estimates on the cost of violence range to $300 billion per year, according to one study. These costs include direct expenditures and related ones -- legal services, policing, incarceration and psychological care.
"Responding to violence diverts billions of dollars away from education, social security, housing and recreation, into the essential but seemingly never-ending tasks of providing care for victims and criminal justice interventions for perpetrators," said Dr. Catherine Le Gales-Camus, assistant director-general of WHO's mental health cluster.
