April 27, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1429

RAWALPINDI, April 26: The Global Road Safety Week (April 23- 29), aimed at raising awareness about the societal impact of road traffic injuries, commenced around the world on Wednesday; however, the event remains unnoticed in Pakistan where road safety situation was deteriorating rapidly.

Road traffic injuries are a leading cause of death, killing nearly 1.2 million people annually. Approximately 90 per cent of these deaths occur in low and middle-income countries.

Unless action is taken urgently, the number of road traffic injuries and deaths is likely to rise in most regions of the world. As motorisation increases, road traffic injuries are predicted to rise to become the eighth leading cause of death by 2030, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

Road traffic crashes are a huge burden on the economy of countries, particularly those in low and middle-income groups. The economic cost of road crashes and injuries is estimated to be over Rs100 billion for Pakistan.

However, the loss is more than just numbers, as road traffic injuries push many families more deeply into poverty by the loss of their breadwinners and inflict a tremendous continuous burden on the disabled victims and their families; and on health care system.

Traffic police, highway authorities, health authorities and civic bodies are the important institutions which should have come forward and use the opportunity to raise public awareness of road traffic rules and regulations as well as traffic injuries.

The government, on its part, has not yet been able to approve the country’s first National Road Safety Plan, which is vital to promote the best practices and strategies to reduce fatal and injury crashes.

A National Road Safety Secretariat was set up a few years ago to draw the plan. The secretariat headed by an expert brought from the United States completed its work; however, the plan was never taken up by the Ministry of Communications for consideration.

The National Road Safety Council, headed by the federal minister for communications, did not meet even for once as the communication minister under the previous government always postponed its meetings.

The National Road Safety Plan has identified a set of effective measures, which are intended to have an immediate and long-term impact on the safety of the most valuable road users in the country, particularly the high-risk groups of pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and users of public transport.

The National Injury Survey of Pakistan results estimated that the incidence of road traffic injuries was 15.0 (including minor injuries) per 1,000 persons per year.

Using these figures, the estimated motor vehicle injuries in 2006 were about two million, according to the Road Safety Council Secretariat. Road traffic injury prevention must be incorporated into a broad range of activities, such as the development and management of road infrastructure, the provision of safer vehicles, law formulation and enforcement, mobility planning, the provision of health and hospital services, child welfare services, urban and environmental planning, and integration of transport planning with land use planning to minimise exposure to road traffic accidents.