As many as 50 million people each year may be injured in road traffic crashes globally — a total representing the combined populations of Beijing, Delhi, London, Paris, and New York. Without increased safety effort to match the growing number of motor vehicles in low to middle income countries, road traffic injury is predicted be the third leading contributor to the global burden of disease and injury by 2020. Heeding such a forecast, the World Health Organisation this week placed road safety advocacy high on the agenda for public health professionals, alongside other key activities. According to WHO, “hidden epidemics” such as road traffic deaths and injuries receive relatively little national or international attention. Without solid action now, the forecast looks bleak over the next decades for low income countries. Even in countries that have more active road safety programmes, too few evidence based measures are being implemented and too few are being promoted by too few organisations. Road crashes continue to be the leading cause of death and hospital admission for people under 50 years old in the European Union. So what can health professionals do to help? (Author/publisher)
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