Road Safety in Developing Countries. For the first time in the history of WHO, the Director-General has devoted a World Health Day specifically to Road Safety.

Although road traffic collisions kill more than 1.2 million people around the world every year, they are largely neglected as a health issue, perhaps because they are still viewed by many as events which are beyond our control.

Yet the risks are known; They include speeding; alcohol; non-use of helmets, seat belts and other restraints; poor road design; poor enforcement of road safety regulations; unsafe vehicle design, and poor emergency health services.

While some interventions to address individual risks have proven to be effective, the mission on World Health Day 2004 is to advocate a “systems approach” to road safety, which takes into consideration the key aspects of the system: the road user, the vehicle and the infrastructure.

Road Traffic Accidents

Deaths from injuries are projected to rise from 5.1 million in 1990 to 8.4 million in 2020— with increase in road traffic injuries as a major cause for this rise. Currently deaths from road traffic injuries account for 2.2% of the global mortality affecting all age groups.

Road crashes, ranking ninth among the leading causes of disease burden worldwide, account for 2.8% of all global deaths and disability. Although the number of motor vehicles per population is much higher in developed countries, the toll due to road traffic injuries is highest in developing countries representing more than one million (or 88%) deaths in 1998.

The economic costs of traffic injuries are enormous. Some 50% of road traffic fatalities world-wide involve young adults aged 15-44 years corresponding to the most economically productive segment of the population.

Facts:

• Road traffic injuries killed an estimated 1.2 million persons in 1998.
• Over 70% -nearly 850,000 persons -killed in road traffic injuries in 1998 were under 45 years of age.
• For adult men aged 15-44 years, road traffic injuries rank second to HIV/ AIDS as the leading cause of ill health and premature death world-wide.

Preventable Key Factors:

• Driving under influence of alcohol · Driving under influence of alcohol
• Speeding
• Under-utilization of seat belts and child restraints
• Poor road design and roadway environment
• Unsafe vehicle design
• Under-implementation of road safety standards
• Poor skills

Disease Burden (DALY’s) For the 10 Leading Causes – 1999

1. Lower respiratory infections
2. HIV/ AIDS
3. Perinatal conditions
4. Diarrhoeal diseases
5. Unipolar major depression
6. Ischaemic heart disease
7. Cerebrovascular disease
8. Malaria
9. Road traffic injuries
10. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Disease Burden (DALYs) For The 10 Leading Causes – 2020

1. Ischaemic heart disease
2. Unipolar major depression
3. Road traffic injuries
4. Cerebrovascular disease
5. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
6. Lower respiratory infections
7. Tuberculosis
8. War
9. Diarrhoeal diseases
10. HIV

Source: World Health Report, 1999.