Geneva, 29 October 2021 (TDI): The World Health Organization announced its Global Plan for its Decade Action For Road to Safety 2021-2030; on 28 October. The target of the Plan is to prevent 50% of road traffic injuries, and deaths, by 2030.
WHO and other UN commissions, cooperated in the UN Road Safety Collaboration, to develop the Global Plan. According to the report, over 3500 die every day on the road. This amounts to nearly 1.3 million preventable deaths, each year. It also amounts to an estimated 50 million preventable injuries, in the same timespan.
Road accidents are set to cause a further estimated 13 million deaths, and around 500 million injuries in the next ten years. A percentage of these accidents will happen in low, and middle-income countries, according to the report.
Then the report mentions that Road accidents have remained a major cause of deaths in the world. But WHO stated that those accidents are preventable. The Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a statement.
Adhanom stated that the loss and livelihoods, the disabilities caused, the grief, and pain, and the financial costs add to the toll. The toll he refers to is on families, communities, societies, and health systems. He then added that to avoid accidents, the governments need to make roads and vehicles safer.
DECADE ACTION AT UNGA, AND BLOOMBERG STATEMENT
The governments recognized the importance of the problem at the Assembly then. The representatives declared the Decade Action for Road Safety at UNGA. Resolution 74/299 was the one that approved the Decade Action. WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries, Michael Bloomberg; was present.
Bloomberg then stated that one of the best ways to save lives is to make streets safer. He added that Bloomberg Philanthropies has been working to improve road safety since 2007. Bloomberg remarked that they improve safety by strengthening laws, increasing enforcement, re-designing; and using data.
The Ambassador also expressed his content that the Plan includes many strategies that his business uses to save lives. Also that it will encourage the governments to prioritize road safety. The Plan includes actions to make walking, cycling, and using public safe transportation. It also includes actions to guarantee timely and effective emergency care.
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
The Plan aims to inspire countries, to act decisively, by using the knowledge from the previous Decade of Action. The Director of the Department of the Social Determinants of Health, Etienne Krug; shared his statement.
Krug remarked that since the car was invented, 50 million people have lost their lives on the roads. He then added that the number is higher than World War I, or some epidemics. Krug stated that it is time to put in action our knowledge because this will lead countries onto a more sustainable path.
Finally, the note mentions that the plan is also aimed at other stakeholders who can influence road safety. Those stakeholders are the civil societies, academies, private sector, and community, and youth leaders.
International Relations student at the Universidad de Navarra in Spain. Main interests are the work of International Organizations like the UN in the scope of humanitarian assistance to vulnerable human beings and the environment
