More must be done to reduce road traffic incidents say world experts

DOHA, QATAR: More must be done to reduce burden and trauma caused by road traffic incidents, leading experts said today. A new report published at the World Innovation Summit for Health 2013 (WISH) has drawn attention to the global scale of road traffic injuries. While much has been done, over a million people still die each year in traffic incidents, with many more injured.

The Road Traffic Injury (RTI) report, reveals that RTI is the eighth leading cause of death globally, and the leading cause of death for young people aged 15-29 years. The annual global cost of dealing with the consequences of these crashes – including trauma care – runs into billions of dollars.

Professor Adnan A. Hyder, Chair of the Road Traffic Injury Forum at WISH, and director of the Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said: “Increasing road safety awareness requires participation and dialogue between governments, healthcare providers, and the general public. Countries also need to consider improvements in their cost and delivery of trauma care for road injury accidents.”

Road Traffic Injury and Trauma Care is one of eight areas being discussed at the Summit taking place in Doha, Qatar on 10 and 11 December, where world leading experts will join an influential cast of heads of state, government ministers, academics, clinicians, policy makers and business leaders to discuss innovative solutions to some of the most pressing global health challenges. As well as RTI, there will be reports on Accountable Care, Big Data and Healthcare, End of Life Care, Mental Health, Obesity, Patient Engagement and Antimicrobial Resistance.

The Right Honourable Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, Executive Chair of WISH and Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London added, “Despite the existence of simple and effective innovations in this field, there are still a number of countries who have failed to adopt these relative simple legislative and road safety measures. The forum highlights that by adopting such innovations from around the world can improve road safety and trauma care for people everywhere.”

WISH opened today in Doha and is under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. WISH supports the aims and ambitions of Qatar Foundation and reinforces Qatar’s pioneering role as an emerging center for medical innovation.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. Road Traffic and Trauma Care Report Summary

Finding highlights

1. • Comprehensive legislation has been shown to be effective in changing behavior, norms and public perceptions about road safety.
   • Community programs are a practical and successful means of promoting road safety in a targeted and sustainable way.
   • Ensuring effective road safety management systems is a strong indicator for success in tackling road safety.
   • Increasing attention should be directed at structural changes to the built environment.
   • Trauma systems should be universal, well-designed and locally appropriate.

Examples of case studies
A number of innovative and best practice examples have been identified from across the world. Some highlights include:

1. • In South Africa, the insurance company Discovery developed an incentive program for drivers that has significantly increased the proportion of “good” and “excellent” drivers on the road.
   • In Mexico, the NGO VIVIAC used a grassroots advocacy approach to revise regional drink-driving legislation.
   • In the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi’s Urban Planning Council commissioned a street design manual and used it to redesign a major roadway, making it safer for pedestrians.

Recommendations for policy-makers
The report makes ten key recommendations for different stakeholders to action in order to deliver change in RTI prevention and trauma care.

These request:

1. 1. Policy-makers and non-governmental organizations to understand and use road safety data and disseminate it to their populations.
   2. Donors, governments and the private sector to invest in research and development for road safety and trauma care.
   3. Governments to ensure that they adopt and implement the recommendations of the 2004 World Report on Road Traffic Injuries Prevention.
   4. All stakeholders to adopt the principle of promoting and using evidence-based innovations for road safety and trauma care systems.
   5. All sectors, especially non-governmental organizations, academia and civil society, to promote global diffusion of road safety and trauma care innovations using traditional and new technologies.
   6. Governments to adopt and implement the strategies in the UN Decade of Action’s Global Plan for 2011-2020.
   7. Global health leaders and the UN agencies to ensure the incorporation of road safety and trauma care as a key concern for sustainable global health and development goals.
   8. Civil society, victim groups, and non-governmental organizations to be effective advocates, and engender a strong demand for road safety and trauma care in populations around the world.
   9. All stakeholders, especially academia and researchers, to widely share evidence-based successes and models for best practices in road safety and trauma care.
   10. All stakeholders, especially governments and donors, to ensure that capacity development is integrated in all road safety and trauma care efforts.

Professor Adnan A Hyder is with the Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr Hyder received his MD from Aga Khan University, Pakistan and obtained his MPH and PhD in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has served as a consultant to several international organizations including the World Bank and the World Health Organization in Geneva. He has been working on injury prevention and control in developing countries, especially Asia, the Middle East and Africa, for 20 years and has published widely in the international literature. Dr Hyder directs the global Road Safety in 10 Countries Project for JHU supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. He has edited several major global reports including the: WHO/World Bank-World Report on Road Traffic Injuries Prevention; WHO-Guidelines for Injury Surveys; WHO/UNICEF-World Report on Child Injuries; and authored the chapters on ‘injuries’ and ‘emergency care’ for the Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries project. Dr Hyder is well known for his work on burden of disease and injury measures, for developing the healthy life year indicator, and for building on the health systems approach to injury prevention and control in developing countries.

1. About WISH

The inaugural World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), due to be held in Doha, Qatar on 10-11 December 2013, will bring together heads of state, ministers, senior government officials, academics and thinkers, as well as the most influential business leaders, to stimulate implementation of practical, sustainable and innovative solutions to tackle global health challenges.

The purpose of WISH is to encourage collaboration and innovation in health policy, health systems and health care delivery, in order to close the gap between what we know and what we do in the fields of healthcare and medicine.

WISH is aligned with the mission and vision of Qatar Foundation and Qatar National Vision 2030, and serves to highlight Qatar’s growing role as an emerging center for healthcare innovation. As the nation stands at the forefront of healthcare reform, Qatar Foundation has embarked upon several promising research-health initiatives, including partnerships with Weill-Cornell Medical College, Biobank Qatar, Qatar Robotic Surgery Centre Qatar Cardiovascular Research Centre, Virgin Health Bank, and Sidra Medical and Research Center.

For more information on WISH, please visit: http://www.wish-qatar.org/

1. Qatar Foundation – Unlocking Human Potential

Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development is a private, non-profit organisation that is supporting Qatar on its journey from carbon economy to knowledge economy by unlocking human potential for the benefit of not only Qatar, but the world. Founded in 1995 by the Father Emir, His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Amir of Qatar, QF is chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.

QF carries out its mission through three strategic pillars: education, science and research, and community development. QF’s education pillar brings world-class universities to Qatar to help create an education sector in which young people can develop the attitudes and skills required for a knowledge economy. Meanwhile, its science and research pillar builds Qatar’s innovation and technology capacity by developing and commercialising solutions through key sciences. Finally, its community development pillar helps foster a progressive society while also enhancing cultural life, protecting Qatar’s heritage and addressing immediate social needs in the community.

For a complete list of QF’s initiatives and projects, visit http://www.qf.org.qa

For more information about Qatar Foundation please contact our press office at: pressoffice@qf.org.qa