Clinton Foundation Helps Road Safety Program in Cambodia and Other Asian Countries

via CAAI

Thursday, 23 September 2010 08:32 DAP NEWS / VISOT

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, SEPTEMBER 23, 2010-The Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation announced Thursday onstage at the Clinton Global Initiative a commitment to implement road safety programs in 94 schools across 4 countries over the next 3 years.

Greig Craft, president of the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation said that these programs will reach 357,000 students, parents, and teachers through direct interventions and 81 million people indirectly through public awareness education in Cambodia, Vietnam, India, and Uganda.

Craft said that In Cambodia, everyday 5 people perish and 19 people suffer severe injuries that remove them from the work force because of road traffic crashes. In response, the Cambodia Helmet Vaccine Initiative plans to launch a road safety public awareness campaign that will reach over 3 million people in addition to school-based education programming projected to reach almost 40,000 students and 1,000 teachers.

Earlier this year, AIP Foundation in co-ordination with the Ministry of Interior, the National Road Safety Committee, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, ANZ Royal Bank (Cambodia) Ltd. and Total Cambodge launched the “One Helmet. One Life.” helmet use campaign.

The AIP Foundation will implement these interventions acting as the lead NGO for the Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative, an international coalition launched in 2009 with founding partners the FIA Foundation, and World Bank Global Road Safety Facility. Recently, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have joined this coalition. The Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative operates under the mission “a helmet on every head” in the UN’s Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011 to 2020). Helmets have been proven to reduce the likelihood of serious brain injury by 70% and fatality by 42%.

“We are honored to have our work recognized by Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative. This recognition highlights the importance of using helmets as a vaccine against the rising epidemic of traffic fatalities,” said Craft.

On September 21, Craft delivered a presentation on the Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative during the Promoting Safe Roads Action Network at the Clinton Global Initiative. In addition, the FIA Foundation announced a multi-year financial commitment to the Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative.

David Ward, Director General of the FIA Foundation, said:

“The Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative is the core element of our ten year, US $1 million a year, CGI commitment for improving road user behaviour during the Decade of Action. Ensuring motorcycle users always wear a helmet is one of the most cost effective ways to reduce death and injury. GHVI is delivering a vaccine that has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives.”

The AIP Foundation was pleased to receive an invitation to attend the Clinton Global Initiative, an international conference that promotes collaboration between the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and other global leaders to effectively confront the world’s most pressing problems with an emphasis on tangible results. In 2000, Bill Clinton launched AIP Foundation’s signature Helmets for Kids program in Vietnam. Since then, AIP Foundation has donated over 500,000 helmets to children in developing countries worldwide.

Traffic fatalities are on par with the death tolls from the world’s major diseases, including malaria and tuberculosis, though they receive a fraction of the attention. The WHO predicts that traffic fatalities will rise from the current rate of 1.2 million per year to 2 million per year by 2020. Children account for 40% of traffic fatalities and developing countries bear 96% of the global burden of child deaths.