Illustrative image (Source: baogiaothong.vn)GiaLai (VNA) - A workshop to review the effectiveness of the project“Helmet for children” in the academic year 2018-2019 was held in the CentralHighlands province of Gia Lai on December 19.
Joint held by the provincial Traffic Safety Committee and Department ofEducation and Training, and the Asia InjuryPrevention (AIP) Foundation, the event aims to assess active impacts of theproject and seek more measures to effectively implement legal regulations relatedwearing helmet for children in Gia Lai, thus raising public awareness of thework.
Addressing the event, Natalie Alya Draisin from the FIA Foundation for theAutomobile and Society said the latest global status report on road safety ofthe World Health Organisation (WHO) showed that the mortality rate of trafficaccidents is increasing, especially in low-income countries.
Southeast Asia and Africa are the worst affected regions, she said, stressing thatit is necessary to build a global movement to prevent the situation.
Vietnam is one of countries that have made impressive achievements in increasingthe rate of children wearing helmets, fromonly 5 percent in 2007 to 53 percent in ten years later, she said.
Implemented from April 2018 to June 2019 in 31 primaryschools in Gia Lai, central Quang Nam province and the northern provinces ofYen Bai and Thai Nguyen, the project has provided nearly 5,200 helmets for studentsfrom ethnic minority groups.
Along with practical activities such as training courses and seminars, theproject has helped raise awareness of pupils and teachers of the necessity to wear standardhelmets.
Theproject has benefited 12 primary schools in Gia Lai, where the rate of students wearing helmets wasonly 38 percent before the project was implemented. The rate climbs to 95percent at present.
In Vietnam, the numbers of traffic accidents, deaths andinjured people remain high through they have declined in recent years. Nearly6,600 people were killed and 11,000 others got injured by traffic accidentsfrom January to October this year, according to the National Traffic SafetyCommittee.
Although the adherence to the helmet wearing rule has beenimproved among adults, the rate among children is still low.-VNA
VNA
