Background in Vietnam today.

WHO helps promote traffic safety in Vietnam


The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday that it will dole out US$860,000 for Vietnam to use on public's awareness programs centering on traffic safety.


Courses that encourage the use of helmets and seat belts, drunk driving and road safety techniques would all be on offer, the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) quoted Jean-Marc Olive, WHO Resident Representative, as saying in a press release.
The drive would also focus on improving the capability of law makers and public health workers, the WHO official said.
The release quoted Trinh Quan Huan, Deputy Minister of Health, as saying that on average more than 11,000 deaths and tens of thousands more injuries were reported annually from road traffic accidents.
“Vietnamese youth in the age group of 15-24 accounts for 20 percent of the total national population, yet they account for 40 percent of total severe road traffic crashes," Huan said.
The Asian Development Bank estimated a staggering yearly economic loss of $885 million from road traffic accidents in Vietnam, said the release.
A survey on casualties conducted at the Viet-Duc Hospital in Hanoi found out that 79.18 percent of victims of traffic accidents did not wear helmets, fasten safety belts or use other safety equipment while traveling on roads.
"Wearing a high-quality helmet is in fact the single most effective way of reducing head injuries and fatalities resulting from motorcycle and bicycle crashes,” Jean-Marc Olive said.
“Effective enforcement of traffic laws, however, needs to be sustained over a long period of time in order to bring about the necessary change in people's behavior and drastically reduce the needless loss of life on Vietnam's roads," he added.
Hospitals also voiced an alarm on the provision of inadequate first aid to traffic accident victims, reporting that 55 percent of the sufferers have not yet been administered by on-the-spot treatment.

THANHNIEN NEWS