In 2004 the WHO’s annual advocacy day ‘World Health Day’ was, for the first time, dedi- cated to the theme of road safety. Hundreds of events took place around the globe to help raise awareness amongst the public and policy makers about the devastating health impact and high societal costs of road traffic injuries. The day’s slogan “Road safety is no accident” served as a stark reminder that only through deliberate and coordinated efforts can roads be made safer and lives be saved.
The global World Health Day 2004 event was co-hosted by the Government of France and the World Health Organization (WHO) on 7 April in Paris. The event was chaired by French President Jacques Chirac and the WHO Di- rector General Jong-wook Lee, both of whom made moving statements and shared personal testimonies with participants who came from all around the world to attend the ceremony. Among them were senior officials from gov- ernment, non-governmental organisations, and the private sector. During the ceremony a video statement by Kofi Annan was broadcast, in which the United Nations Secretary General pledged his support to World Health Day 2004, and called on countries to wake up to the grow- ing toll of road traffic crashes and to take urgent preventative action.
While the official World Health Day 2004 event was taking place in Paris, hundreds of national, local, and regional events were taking place around the world. In Italy, for example, a coali- tion led by the Automobile Club of Italy organ- ised a campaign for World Health Day entitled “April 7th - Let’s give it a try: No casualties on the road” which mobilised national stakehold- ers, including business, trades unions, football teams, and the Church.
The European Red Cross used World Health Day 2004 to launch its good practice guide on road safety and first aid education for children. The guide, which was launched in Berlin in
Germany, was the culmination of a year long Above:World Health Day 2004 Road Safety is No Accident was the theme of Above: French President Jacques Chirac at the Paris launch of World Health Day 2004
road safety campaign entitled “You’ve only got one life…so take care!” The guide was trans- lated into 13 languages and contains 36 proven practices for improving road safety for children, including learning activities for children travel- ling to and from school.
In Ethiopia, students, health workers and traf- fic police took to the streets of Addis Ababa to share information with the public on the merits of specific prevention measures such as seat belts and helmets. They later joined represent- atives from the highest levels of government and industry for a road safety conference, dur- ing which the President of Ethiopia called upon them to work together to reverse the trend of rising road traffic deaths and injuries in the country.
In India, more than 30 organisations hosted ac- tivities and events in support of World Health Day 2004, ranging from seminars to street plays, poster competitions and road safety quizzes. Road safety advocacy materials were produced and distributed around the country in many Indian languages. A workshop in New Delhi brought together researchers and deci- sion-makers from transport stakeholder organ- isations to discuss the future policy directions for road safety in India. The group adopted a declaration entitled “The Road Ahead” which called for the Government to create a national lead agency for road safety, establish inter- disciplinary research centres, and implement proven safety measures which focus on the most vulnerable road users.
Media coverage of World Health Day 2004 was extensive. For a four week period leading up to and following World Health Day 2004, the BBC World Service conducted a road safety sea- son involving intensive radio coverage of road safety-related issues around the world. More than 500 articles appeared in the world’s lead- ing national newspapers, and most internation- al television news services carried interviews and feature stories on World Health Day.
Source: Milestones in international road safety, World Health Day 2004 and beyond (WHO, 2005)
Above: Non-governmental stakeholders played an important role in promoting World Health Day 2004
Above: In India, more than 30 organisations hosted activities and events in support of World Health Day
34 | MAKE ROADS SAFE
One week after World Health Day, the UN General Assembly held its first ever plenary debate on the is- sue of road safety. Addressed by 0 countries and leaders of the WHO, UNICEF, and the World Bank, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on ‘Im- proving Global Road Safety’ (A/58/289 11 May 2004). The resolution was a call to action by the internation- al community to reverse the rising toll of deaths and injuries on the road. It clearly recognised the impor- tance of international cooperation in the field of road safety and the need to build capacity in developing countries by providing financial and technical support for their efforts. The resolution also invited the WHO to serve as coordinator within the UN system on road safety issues.
A striking feature of the both the Assembly debate and the resolution was the quality of the contributions
and broad base of support from industrialised and de- veloping countries. Oman, represented by its Foreign Minister HE Yousef bin Alawi bin Abdulla, was again the lead sponsor, strongly supported by Seamus Brennan, the then Minister for Transport of Ireland and representing the European Union. Other promi- nent contributions were made by the representatives of China, India, and Russia. Interestingly, the United States (represented by the Transportation Secretary Mr Norman Mineta and the NHTSA Administrator, Jeff Runge) played a key role in negotiating the text and in securing agreement on the establishment of a coordination mechanism for road safety within the UN system, as recommended by Kofi Annan.
The debate in New York was not limited to UN Mem- ber States. The General Assembly debate was fol- lowed by a Global Road Safety Forum which brought