KARACHI, April 8: Speakers at a seminar on Thursday underlined the need of strong political commitment, strict implementation on road safety laws and creating awareness among the masses to save hundreds of precious lives in road accidents every year in the country.
The seminar titled "Road safety is a public health issue too" was organized by the Pakistan Press Foundation here at its Vicky Zeitlin Media Library to mark the World Health Day 2004. PPF Director Samina Ishaq delivered welcome address.
Addressing the seminar, WHO Operations Officer for Sindh, Dr G.N. Kazi, said that the number of total road accidents was 9,985 that claimed 4,910 lives and rendered 11,863 persons injured in year 2003. Around 70 per cent casualties were suffered by pedestrians in these accidents.
He said that Karachi and Shikarpur were high-risk districts in deaths with an average of over 12 deaths per 100,000 population in the country. He said that in road accidents, 75 per cent males (between 15 and 44 years of age) and children were affected mostly.
Strong political commitment was key to road safety and preventing accidents. Moreover, health sector had an important role in promoting road safety policy and strategy formulation, the WHO officer added.
He said that there must be compulsory use of seat-belts and helmets in the country. Unsafe roads with lack of sidewalks and safe crossings, overspeeding, lack of effective laws and their enforcement, weak emergency first aid response, rapidly growing population and travelling on two and three wheelers had increased the risks of traffic accidents, he mentioned.
Dr Kazi emphasized upon deliberate efforts for promoting road safety education and everyone had to play his/her shared role as well. He said that traffic accidents could be prevented or reduced by making seat-belts available in all vehicles and making them mandatory, prohibition of using mobile phones or smoking while driving, getting children sit in rear seats only, using helmets by all riders of two wheelers, organizing appropriate first aid and health workers' training on trauma management and investing in road safety as it had a high financial return of nine to twenty-two per cent per year.
Chief of Accidents & Emergency Department and Deputy Director, JPMC, Dr Seemin Jamali said that pedestrians and cyclists using roads were at risk and if the current trends continued number of casualties on roads would rise by more than 60 per cent till 2020.
She said that 161,380 persons affected by road accidents brought at JPMC in 2003, of them 265 died. Lack of road layout and design, poor vehicle conditions, lack of implementation on traffic laws and unsafe human behaviours were causing accidents, she added.
Once crash occurs, the lack of adequate medical facilities, including limited emergency services and lack of qualified medical personal impeded prompt medical response, she said adding that integrated approach to address vehicles' conditions, road users and road infrastructure were required.
Road Safety Officer and DO (Transport and Communication) Zafar Ehsan said that every year 600 people were killed with average two deaths daily in road accidents in Karachi.
He said that there must be strict punishment for drivers as per law and special courts should be established in this respect. All commercial drivers should be registered and trained, and the government should ask companies to give their share for road safety, he added.
DIG Traffic Yamin Khan underlined the need to educate the masses about road safety, facilities to pedestrians, proper traffic engineering and traffic enforcement. He said that the VVIP culture must come to an end for saving innocent lives without any discrimination. - PPI
