OMS destaca 5º ano pós lançamento da década de ação e prol da segurança nas estradas
A organização Mundial de Saúde está destacando aniversário dessa data e abrindo reflexões.
11 May 2016: five-year anniversary of the launch of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020
Today marks the mid-point in the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, which was launched to great fanfare in many countries around the world on 11 May 2011. Five years since the launch of the Decade of Action, where do we stand?
Although still unacceptably high, an encouraging sign of progress is that the annual number of road traffic deaths is stabilizing at around 1.25 million even though the number of motor vehicles worldwide is increasing rapidly. According to WHO's Global status report on road safety 2015, 79 countries have seen a decrease in the absolute number of road traffic fatalities during a recent three-year period.
Following the spectacular launch of the Decade of Action, many countries have developed national road safety plans in line with the Global Plan. They are improving legislation and enforcement on the main behavioural risk factors; working with groups such as the International Road Assessment Programme and Global New Car Assessment Programme and their regional affiliates to assess and upgrade the safety of their roads and vehicles; and enhancing the systems that provide medical treatment and support to the injured.
A major achievement for the field, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes that progress will continue to be hampered in countries lacking safety on their roads. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.6 calls upon governments to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by 2020, while SDG target 11.2 encourages them to provide safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all by 2030. A related UN General Assembly resolution, adopted in April 2016, acknowledges the importance of these SDG targets, calling for road safety as a pressing priority. The more than 2000 delegates to the 2nd Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety held in Brazil in November 2015 - including more than 50 ministers and vice-ministers of health, transport and interior - charted ways to achieve these ambitious targets.
The Decade of Action has also helped to generate additional resources. In a major boost, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced in February 2015 a further US$ 125 million donation to select low- and middle-income countries to strengthen national road safety legislation and implement bold, new road safety initiatives in cities.
During the first half of the Decade of Action, we have also seen the emergence of a stronger civil society, with groups such as the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety and YOURS leading the charge. Such organizations - and the voices behind them - have been instrumental in demanding greater attention for road safety and marking advocacy events, such as the UN global road safety weeks and the annual World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.
However, during the five years remaining in the Decade of Action, if we are to achieve the significant SDG targets governments have set, we need to dramatically accelerate action, in particular at national and local levels. Many actors have a role and collaboration across many sectors will be key.
WHO will continue to make its contribution. WHO is developing a package of priority interventions to guide governments as they rally around what works to prevent road traffic deaths and injuries. These include measures to improve laws and enforcement; make roads safer through infrastructural modifications; ensure that vehicles are equipped with life-saving technologies; and enhance emergency trauma care systems. Tackling speed will be central to these efforts.
In collaboration with other UN agencies and UN regional commissions, WHO is also facilitating the development of global performance targets for risk factors and service delivery and will continue to monitor, through its global status reports, progress towards the achievement of the goal of the Decade of Action - to save 5 million lives.
The challenge ahead is huge. We know what works to prevent road traffic deaths and injuries. We must simply garner the will to transform that knowledge into the concrete and practical road safety interventions that will save lives.
