World unites to halt death and injury on roads

Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 set to save millions of lives

The  WHO Global Plan for The Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 includes links to programs, publications, events, and more by a voluntary consultative process of partners. These partners include governments, international agencies, the private sector, and others.

[The editor was in a road accident back in her Peace Corps Liberia West Africa days, truck overturned and rolled over several times down a rather steep embankment. Very fortunately neither the driver, my colleague, or myself was seriously injured. However, my right leg ended up outside the vehicle, and underneath the truck. Nothing was broken, but I had 35 or so stitches in my leg because of shattered glass… Accident happened late at night on dirt road, driver had swerved to avoid oncoming car which was speeding in the center of the road…No ambulances up country…luckily a bus stopped…passengers got out, helped us in bus..and they turned around and drove back to town…to the hospital..t was the second time that night that this bus had stopped at an accident scene and transported people to the local hospital]

The Decade of Action link includes social media options (as Facebook and Twitter), advocacy and press materials, and highlighted publications.

From the World Health Organization (WHO) press release

6 MAY 2011 | GENEVA – On 11 May, dozens of countries around the world kick off the first global Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. From New Zealand to Mexico and the Russian Federation to South Africa, governments are committing to take new steps to save lives on their roads. The Decade seeks to prevent road traffic deaths and injuries which experts project will take the lives of 1.9 million people annually by 2020.

To mark the launch of the Decade, governments in countries such as Australia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Niger, Nigeria, the Philippines, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam will host high-profile events and release national plans to improve safety and services for victims. A number of landmark national monuments will be illuminated with the road safety “tag”, the new symbol for the Decade. These include Times Square in New York City; Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro; Trafalgar Square in London; and the Jet d’Eau in Geneva, among others.

Curbing a growing health and development problem

“Today countries and communities are taking action vital to saving lives on our streets and highways” said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. “Road traffic crashes are a growing health and development concern affecting all nations, and the Decade offers a framework for an intensified response.”

Road traffic injuries have become the leading killer of young people aged 15–29 years. Almost 1.3 million people die each year on the world’s roads, making this the ninth leading cause of death globally. In addition to these deaths, road crashes cause between 20 million and 50 million non-fatal injuries every year. In many countries, emergency care and other support services for road traffic victims are inadequate. These avoidable injuries overload already stretched health services.

Global plan to improve the safety of roads and vehicles

“None of us should have to bear the grief and devastation caused by a road traffic crash” said Dr Etienne Krug, WHO Director of the Department of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability. “The steps outlined in the Global Plan for the Decade are immediately doable, and will do much to spare the suffering of so many.”

The Global Plan outlines steps towards improving the safety of roads and vehicles; enhancing emergency services; and building up road safety management generally. It also calls for increased legislation and enforcement on using helmets, seat-belts and child restraints and avoiding drinking and driving and speeding. Today only 15% of countries have comprehensive laws which address all of these factors.

Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists collectively represent almost half of those killed on the world’s roads….

Click here to read the rest of the press release

Related Post

Vaccine for Road Safety

I stumbled upon this infomercial from BBC World while looking for something to entertain me over dinner:

 

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Landmark Initiative to Reduce Healthcare-Associated Infections Cuts Deaths Among Medicare Patients in Michigan Intensive Care Units

Landmark Initiative to Reduce Healthcare-Associated Infections Cuts Deaths Among Medicare Patients in Michigan Intensive Care Units

From the January 31, 2011 AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) press release

Older Americans who were treated in Michigan intensive care units (ICUs) saw larger decreases in their likelihood of dying while hospitalized than similar ICU patients in other Midwestern hospitals, according to a new study evaluating an innovative quality improvement initiative funded by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The initiative, known as the Keystone Project, targeted ways to reduce the number of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Previous research has shown that targeted quality improvement programs can reduce HAI rates. This study, “Impact of a Statewide Intensive Care Unit Quality Improvement Initiative on Hospital Mortality and Length of Stay: Retrospective Comparative Analysis,” published in today’s British Medical Journal, is the first to link these programs to reduced death rates. “This study gives us assurance that investing in large-scale, evidence-based quality improvement programs can save lives—the most important outcome for patients and doctors,” said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. “AHRQ and others have already initiated work to expand this project nationwide to other ICUs across the country.” Researchers led by Allison Lipitz-Snyderman, Ph.D., of The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, analyzed Medicare data for ICU patients in Michigan hospitals and 364 hospitals in 11 other Midwestern states. They looked at data before the project was initiated, while it was being phased in, and up to 22 months after implementation. The researchers found that overall a person’s chance of dying decreased by about 24 percent in Michigan after the program was implemented compared to only 16 percent in surrounding Midwestern states where the program was not implemented. “We knew that when we applied safety science principles to the delivery of health care, we would dramatically reduce infections in intensive care units, and now we know we are also saving lives,” says Peter J. Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Pronovost led development of the AHRQ-sponsored Keystone Intensive Care Unit Project and implemented it in Michigan hospitals with the help of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. “These results are very exciting, and further research should be done to address other important issues impacting the safety and quality of patient care,” added Dr. Lipitz-Snyderman. The Keystone Project uses a comprehensive approach that includes promoting a culture of patient safety, improving communication among ICU staff teams, and implementing practices based on guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), such as checklists and hand washing, to reduce rates of catheter-related bloodstream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia. AHRQ continues to support the Keystone Project through a contract with the Health Research & Educational Trust, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, by reaching more hospitals and other settings in addition to ICUs and applying the approach to various HAIs. For AHRQ’s recently funded HAI projects, go to http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/haify10.htm. According to the CDC, HAIs are one of the most common complications of hospital care, accounting for an estimated 1.7 million infections, and 99,000 associated deaths in 2002. These infections are responsible for $28 billion to $34 billion in preventable health care expenses every year. Infectious agents, such as bacteria, found in health care settings can cause patients to develop HAIs when they have surgery or require central lines or urinary tract catheters. The Keystone Project is part of a Department-wide effort to address HAIs, as outlined in the HHS Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections (http://www.hhs.gov/ash/initiatives/hai/index.html). Partners across HHS, including AHRQ, CDC, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and National Institutes of Health, are working together to achieve the goals of the Action Plan. For more information, please contact AHRQ Public Affairs: (301) 427-1864 or (301) 427-1855. Use Twitter to get AHRQ news updates:http://www.twitter.com/ahrqnews/

Additional articles about this news release

• Safety checklist use yields 10 percent drop in hospital deaths (Science Blog)
• Program reduces serious hospital infections – report (Reuters)

Articles about related studies

• Study finds MRSA screening saves hospitals money
• Private room intensive care unites associated with lower infection rates
• More doctors must join nurses, administrators in leading efforts to improve patient safety, outcomes