World Health Day 2004 is an unprecedented event for road safety advocates around the world. For the first time since its inception in 1946, the World Health Organization (WHO) is using its annual health message to target road safety. The slogan – Road safety is no accident – was chosen to focus the world’s attention on this growing transportation and public health problem and to highlight the fact that traffic fatalities and injuries can be avoided if governments and other key stakeholders implement the measures necessary to prevent them. On April 7, 2004, road safety stakeholders are being asked to promote awareness, understanding and discussion of road safety issues and to initiate or implement actions to address these concerns. At present, an estimated 1.2 million road users are killed in traffic collisions each year throughout the world, and many millions more are seriously injured. A global epidemiological study, (1) which assessed mortality and disability from diseases and injuries in 1990 and projected these same risk factors to 2020, estimated that the annual number of deaths and disabilities due to traffic collisions would increase by more than 60% by that date if current trends continued. In 1990, road traffic injuries ranked as the ninth leading contributor to the global burden of disease and injury. By 2020, they are expected to be ranked third, if measures are not introduced to curtail these trends. The main reason for this growing global problem is the projected increase in traffic fatalities and injuries among “vulnerable” road users in developing countries, where an estimated 90% of all traffic-related casualties currently occur. “Vulnerable” road users are pedestrians and riders of bicycles, motorcycles and mopeds. In Canada, the outlook is considerably more positive. Fatalities and serious injuries resulting from traffic collisions are at or near historical lows, despite steady increases in the numbers of vehicles and drivers on our roads. Still, in 2001, 2,778 road users were killed in Canada in traffic collisions. More than 220,000 were injured, including almost 17,000 who sustained serious injuries. Annual estimates of costs associated with these crashes and casualties are as high as $25 billion. (Author/publisher)
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