Top News

WHO South-East Asia Regional Director Saima Wazed called for everyone to be able to walk and cycle safely. The 8th UN Global Road Safety Week was the occasion for her speech. Commencing on the third Monday of May, the UN Global Road Safety Week is observed every two years.

“This year’s theme calls on everyone to make walking and bicycling safe. The Global Plan for the Decade of Action for ‘Road Safety 2020-2030’ highlights the importance of walking and cycling as components of multimodal transport networks. Additionally, they support sustainable cities and lifestyles,” she stated.

Every year, over 1.2 million people worldwide lose their lives in traffic accidents, and up to 50 million more suffer non-fatal injuries, according to Wazed.

“These tragedies are more than just numbers. She said that they are mostly avoidable and include the death of parents, loved ones, and children.

She emphasized that road traffic injuries remain a major public health problem in the WHO South-East Asia Region and are now the greatest cause of mortality for young people aged 5 to 29.

More than 330,000 road collision deaths occurred in the area in 2021 alone, accounting for 28% of all fatalities worldwide. Up to 66% of these deaths include vulnerable road users, such as cyclists, pedestrians, and two- and three-wheeler drivers.

“Pedestrians and cyclists already account for more than one in four road traffic deaths,” Wazed added, highlighting the topic for this year as a timely call to action. Saving lives is not the sole reason to ensure their safety. Walking and cycling should be prioritized because they promote physical activity, which is a major modifiable risk factor for non-communicable illnesses including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Additionally, walking and cycling promote mental health by lowering anxiety and depressive symptoms.

“In our region, the WHO partnership for healthy cities has been working extensively with megacities such as Mumbai and Bangkok to address road safety and promote safe transportation,” Wazed said, highlighting the importance of road safety in the WHO’s guidelines for healthy cities. This includes universally inclusive designs for accessible pathways and better pedestrian walkway designs based on the evaluation of hundreds of kilometers of roads and sidewalks.

It is difficult to build roadways that are accessible, safe, and inclusive for everyone in Southeast Asia’s crowded cities. However, by enhancing communal well-being and environmental sustainability, this will benefit the populace, particularly the most vulnerable. Injuries, non-communicable illnesses, mental health, and even climate change are all interrelated issues that are addressed when road safety and physical activity promotion are combined. “People-centered mobility policies, safer road design, safe vehicles, and lower speed limits are things that I urge all Member States, civil society, the private sector, and communities to push for,” Wazed added.

She urged people to band together in her closing comments to guarantee a safe environment for bicyclists and pedestrians in their local areas. “Let’s work together to make sure that everyone, especially our children and young people, can walk and cycle safely on our roads and in our communities,” Wazed added. By doing this, we promote health, combat climate change, and further the Sustainable Development Goals in addition to increasing road safety.