Road traffic injuries are the eighth leading cause of death worldwide, and the leading cause of death among young people aged 15-29 years. In 2010 at the United Nations General Assembly, governments around the world recognised road traffic injuries as a global health and development problem and declared a Decade of Action for Road Safety (2010-2020) with the goal to reduce the increasing trend in road traffic deaths and save 5 million lives. The UN General Assembly resolution also called for the Decade of Action to be monitored through a series of global status reports. WHO's Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013, launched on March 14, 2013, serves as the baseline for the Decade of Action. It provides a better understanding of the burden and distribution of road traffic injuries around the world by using police, transport, and health data to develop comparative death estimates. It also monitors progress on the implementation of road safety good practices, drawing on data collected from various sectors in 182 participating nations that cover 99% of the world's population. (Author/publisher)
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