Injury is the single greatest killer of Americans from age 1 to age 44, but injuries are not inevitable. They are understandable, predictable, and preventable. During the last decades, an increasingly sophisticated science of injury prevention and control has developed. Building on this knowledge, injury specialists are developing and testing specific, targeted interventions and implementing them in communities around the country. Some general recommendations to advance injury prevention at the national, State, and local levels are: (1) declaring injury control a priority; (2) providing funding for injury prevention and control research and practice programs; (3) supporting training for injury prevention and control; and (4) establishing injury surveillance activities that build upon and improve existing data collection systems. 43 references.