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PRESS RELEASES
NEW: Road crashes kill more than 3,000 a day, but many are preventable, new report notes (04/07/2004)
Heather Mills-McCartney to Receive Champion of Health Award at PAHO (04/06/2004)
Experts to brief on New Report on Road Safety, Prevention of Traffic Injuries (04/02/2004)
PAHO, AAA Address Low Seat Belt Use Rates among Hispanics (03/31/2004)
World Health Day 2004: Road Safety
Washington, DC, February 2004 (PAHO)—An estimated 1.26 million men, women and children were killed around the world in the first year of the 21st century - not by wars or diseases or natural disasters, but by and in traffic accidents. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 25 percent of all deaths due to injuries are the result of road traffic injuries.
This has prompted WHO to choose "Road Safety" as the theme for World Health Day 2004. World Health Day is celebrated annually on April 7. The leading causes of traffic and traffic-related deaths include drunk driving, speeding and improper or lack of use of safety or seat belts.
In the United States, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Hispanics between the ages of 1 and 34 and the third leading cause of death for all ages surpassed only by heart disease and cancer, according to the U.S. Transportation Department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
NHTSA also found that Hispanics are less likely to wear a seat belt. In addition, a NHTSA study said, "although Hispanic male teenagers travel fewer miles than their white counterparts, they are nearly twice as likely to die in a motor vehicle crash."
Current health statistics published by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on all transport accidents in the Americas rank the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela as the five top nations in the number of traffic-related deaths.
In addition to the million-plus people killed worldwide, "hundreds of thousands more are injured on our roads, some of whom become permanently disabled. The vast majority of these occur in developing countries, among pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and users of public transport, many of whom would never be able to afford a private motor vehicle," said WHO in a recent report.
According to WHO's August 2003 report on the Global Road Safety Crisis, in 2000 an estimated 1.26 million people worldwide died as a result of road traffic injuries.
"Road traffic injuries accounted for 2.2 per cent of global mortality and were responsible for 25 percent of all deaths due to injury. Around the world, injuries are among the leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 44, and road traffic injuries are responsible for 25 percent of all deaths due to injury," the report said.
Road traffic injuries, the same report noted, also exact a heavy toll in terms of the ill health they cause. In 2000, road traffic crashes ranked as the ninth leading cause of mortality and morbidity, accounting for 2.8 percent of all global deaths and disability.
"WHO projections suggest that by 2020 road traffic injuries could rank third among causes of death and disability, ahead of such other health problems as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS," the report said.
PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world's oldest public health organization. PAHO works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and the quality of life of its people. It serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).
For more information, video material, or photographs please contact: Juan Walte, Office of Public Information, (202) 974-3172, e-mail: waltejua@paho.org.
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