WHO welcomes the proclamation by the UN General Assembly of the first "Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020" which seeks to halt the increasing trends in road traffic deaths and injuries worldwide.
"This Decade of Action for Road Safety is long overdue," says WHO Assistant Director-General Dr Ala Alwan. "It will help us increase action to address what will otherwise become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030."
Road traffic injuries are a major public health problem, killing nearly 1.3 million people each year and injuring as many as 50 million. They are the leading cause of death for children and young people aged 5–29 years. Almost half of the world's road traffic fatalities are among pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists and more than 90% occur in developing countries.
While road traffic death rates in many high-income countries have stabilized or declined in recent decades, research suggests road deaths are increasing in most regions of the world. If trends continue unabated deaths will rise to an estimated 2.4 million a year by 2030. . . . . .
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