A WHO-supported multi-media road safety campaign was today launched with an aim to spread awareness about curbing accidents, drunken-driving and promote use of helmets by two-wheeler riders.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with support from the Traffic Police and other stakeholders, launched the campaign in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, a release said here.
It aims to educate road users about various aspects of safety, especially drunken-driving and using helmet while driving.
The campaign is part of a road safety initiative in nine countries, including India, being implemented by the WHO with a consortium of international partners over a five year period (2010-2014).
During the drive, evidence-based advocacy/awareness generation material will be disseminated through TV, cinema, radio, cable and print media along with outdoor innovations. These include street plays, activities around major inter- sections and distribution of promotional material, it said.
Nata Menabde, WHO Representative to India, said, "Road traffic injuries are a growing public health and development concern, disproportionately affecting vulnerable group of road users, including the poor. More than half of people killed in traffic crashes are young adults aged between 15 and 44 years - often the breadwinners in a family."
"We call for greater action towards promoting a culture of road safety to save lives on the roads," she said.
As per a 2013 report of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, 28.6 per cent of the people dying on Indian roads are motorcycle riders, mostly due to head injuries.
Wearing a helmet correctly can result in reduction of risk of death by 40 per cent and that of severe injury by 70 per cent. Strictly enforcing a law against drink-driving can reduce the number of road deaths by 20 per cent, the release said, quoting the report.
