Addressing road injuries
in Western Asia: A public
health perspective
Adnan A. Hyder,
MD MPH PhD
International Injury Research Unit,
Department of International Health,
Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg
School of Public Health, USA
Road traffic injury improvements in the
20th Century in high income countries:
A Public Health Success Story!
What accounts such a decline
in RTI fatalities?
• Speed control
• Seat
belt use
• Roadway designs
• Car seat use
• MV safety standards • Drinking and driving
• Visibility
• Helmets
Impact of Seat Belts:
Interventions
for works?
RTI: Newly
Traffic
injuries – what
recognized needs…
Visibility Aids
Helmets for Kids
Evidence based interventions for
further consideration
• Child
safety seat laws with distribution
and education programs
• Primary seat belt laws with active
enforcement
• Graduated driver’s licensing
programs
• Sobriety checkpoints, minimum
drinking age laws, .08 BAC legislation
Cost Effective Interventions Exist
Intervention
Improved enforcement
(LMIC average)
Speed bumps at top 25%ile
dangerous junctions (LMIC
average)
Bicycle helmets
(China)
Motorcycle helmets
(Thailand)
Cost per Disability
Adjusted Life Year
$5.25
$8.89
$107
$467
(Bishai and Hyder, 2006)
For Child Road Traffic Injuries:
Investment of
US$ 1 in…
Reaps
savings/benefits of
US$
Child restraints
29
Bicycle helmets
29
How did these changes occur?
How did these changes occur?
• Comprehensive, multi-disciplinary
approaches
• Government leadership
• Sustained commitment to research
• Advocacy and public support
IOM, 1999; MMWR, 1999
The Focus of Road Safety…
On protecting people
On the pursuit of “efficiency” and
“effectiveness”
Such a systems approach will deliver
interventions which provide the largest
reduction of injuries and deaths
Recommendations World Report 2004:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify a lead agency in government to guide the
national road traffic safety effort.
Assess the problem, policies and institutional settings.
Prepare a national road safety strategy and plan of
action.
Allocate financial and human resources to address
the problem.
Implement specific actions to prevent crashes,
minimize injuries and their consequences and
evaluate the impact of these actions.
Support the development of national capacity and
international cooperation.
A Systems-Based
Public Health
Approach
To
Road Injury
Prevention
Results
Interventions
Institutional Base
Such crashes are unacceptable in
Western Asia in the 21st Century
Thank you!
Dr. Adnan Hyder
(ahyder@jhsph.edu)
International Injury Research Unit
www.jhsph.edu/IIRU