KARACHI, April 7: The laws aimed at making the Pakistani roads safer are not being implemented properly and this is why a large number of people get killed or disabled in traffic accidents every year. These observations were made by the World Health Organization's representative to Islamabad, Dr Khalif Bile Mohamud, and a former governor of Sindh, Lt Gen Moinuddin Haider on Wednesday.

Speaking at the 13th International Children's Health Conference, organized jointly by the Hamdard Foundation and the WHO to commemorate the World Health Day, the speakers pointed out that until these laws were implemented in letter and spirit, the roads could not become safer.

Dr Mohamud was of the opinion that new road laws should be formulated. "For instance, in the United Kingdom, there is a law that pertains to the use of cellular phones on roads, which have been banned strictly. This needs to be enforced in Pakistan as well," said the WHO's representative to Pakistan.

"Similarly, a person should not be allowed to smoke while driving. Also, a driver should make it certain that children are not seated on the front-seat of a vehicle," he said.

He observed that the existing traffic laws needed to be enforced more stringently. Last year, 12,000 road accidents had been reported from all over the country.

He said, "Forty per cent of the accidents involved death. And 30 per cent of the people featuring in the accidents died." Dr Mohamud said the death rate in the accidents taking place in Sindh and Punjab was greater as compared to the other two provinces.

He informed all those present at the conference that the WHO was considering to join hands with the Hamdard Foundation in launching a traffic education initiative in some selected schools. If the said programme turned out to be a successful one, he said, the same might be replicated in the other institutions of the country.

Lt Gen Moinuddin Haider, in his presidential address, said it was generally true that the traffic laws remained to be enforced properly. "However, all is not lost," he remarked.

He observed that a dual carriageway had been built linking all major cities in the country. "This is a positive development. Similarly, motorways are being built. This is another step in the right direction," he said.

The former governor said that an emergency and rescue service should also be established that could provide immediate assistance to the injured in case there was an accident on any of the highways.

"When I was the interior minister, we initiated the process of dialogue among the provinces over this issue. This process is now almost complete and a draft law has already been formulated for the setting up of such a service," he said.

This document, he added, was ready for adoption by the National Assembly. "However, the members of the National Assembly have been spending too much time in thumping the desks or discussing issues in the Legal Framework Order or National Security Council. Let's hope that the legislators will set aside some time for issues like road safety."

Earlier, more than 10 students from all over the country and three from abroad took part in a debate entitled "Road Safety Is No Accident". The schoolchildren, some of them hardly 12 years of age, took to task the authorities for failing to implement the relevant laws.

Some of the students also chastised the municipal agencies over the poor shape, the roads are generally in. The names of the students who specially flew in from abroad to attend the event are: Fariha Ghafoori from Afghanistan, Omer Caliskan from Turkey and Nimesha Navodi from Sri Lanka.