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Violence, Injuries and Disability |
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About road traffic injuries Some may wonder why WHO and the health sector should take the lead in an issue such as road safety, which has traditionally been the domain of the transport or police sectors. Road traffic injuries however, pose a major public health problem that has long been neglected. It is health workers who must witness its awful, and largely avoidable, consequences. Moreover, the contribution of the health sector can be significant as regards the identification of effective interventions to reduce this burden. Globally, one quarter of all deaths from injuries are due to road traffic injuries. They claim some 1.2 million lives every year, and about 20 million to 50 million people are injured or disabled – accounting for 2.6% of all disability-adjusted life years (DALYS) lost and 2.1% of global mortality. Young adults between the ages of 15 and 44 years, the most productive years of life, account for 50% of this global mortality. Low-income and middle-income countries account for about 90% of global mortality and their share is on the rise in contrast to an overall decrease in high-income countries. If current trends persist, by 2020 annual deaths and disabilities due to road traffic injuries will have dropped by 30% in high-income countries. Globally, however, they will have increased by 60%, signifying an immense increase in low-income and middle-income countries. In the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, the number of road traffic deaths has been rising steadily over the past decade. In 2002, the mortality rate from road traffic injuries in the Region was 26.4 deaths per 100 000 population, the second highest in the world after the African Region. Economically estimates suggest that the cost of road traffic injuries accounts for 1% to 2% of the Gross National Product of different countries, amounting to approximately US$520 billion globally. Of this, US$65 billion is borne by developing countries – more than the amount such countries receive in development aid in a year. Road safety is also an issue of equity. Studies have shown that individuals from disadvantaged socioeconomic groups or living in poorer areas are at greatest risk of being killed or injured. What can also aggravate the problem is that poorer populations often cannot afford health care at the more sophisticated private health facilities. Moreover, as bread-earners become disabled or pass away, families are pushed deeper into poverty.
The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, has published
his first report to the UN General Assembly on
progress in international road safety. World Health Assembly adopts resolution on trauma care
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said's road safety initiatives spark worldwide response |
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WHO is
compiling the Global Status Report on Road Safety
