The head of mission and WHO representative in Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore, Dr Jacqueline Lo Ying-Ru, said Malaysia accounted for the third highest road traffic death rate in the Western Pacific region.
“Additionally, road traffic injury accounts for 14% of deaths among children aged five to 14 years in Malaysia, making it the leading cause of child mortality in the country,” Lo said at the launch of the WHO Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 for the Malaysia chapter last Thursday.
In September last year, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted Resolution 74/299 in improving global road safety and proclaiming the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, with an ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road deaths and injuries by 2030.
The global plan aligns with the “Stockholm Declaration” in which Malaysia is one of the countries that mandated 18 resolutions on road safety at a global ministerial conference in February last year.
“The need (for Malaysia) to address road safety is clear,” Lo pointed out.
Official figures by Bukit Aman’s traffic investigation and enforcement department show a total of 167,074 lives were lost for all types of road users from 1995 to August 2021, or an average of 18 road deaths per day during the period.
From 2001 to August, a total of 79,916 motorcycle users were killed in Malaysia. This year, seven out of 10 deaths on the road were motorbike users, making Malaysia closer to replacing Thailand for the world’s worst death rate for motorcyclists.
More than 3,500 die every day on the roads globally. WHO experts reckon there are 1.3 million preventable deaths – the leading killer of children and young people worldwide – and an estimated 50 million injuries each year.
It is estimated that a further 13 million fatalities and 500 million injuries will occur around the world during the next decade, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, if governments conduct “business as usual”.
WHO Social Determinants of Health director Dr Etienne Krug said the new global plan “will lead countries onto a more sustainable path”.
“More than 50 million people have died on the world’s roads since the invention of the automobile. This is more than the number of deaths in World War I or some of the worst epidemics,” Krug said. “It is time to put in action what we know works and shift to a much safer and healthier mode of transport.”
Stating that the new plan is a guiding document for the governments and relevant agencies to reduce road crashes, Lo said “every action matters”.
It is aimed not only at senior policy-makers, but also other stakeholders who can influence road safety, such as civil society, academicians, the private sector and community and youth leaders.
As part of WHO’s road safety work, she said, the UN agency has established platforms for the Asia-Pacific region road safety legislators to provide training, workshops and networking opportunities.
Lo also commended the Malaysian government for its commitment to address road safety through the development and implementation of two road safety plans between 2006 and 2020.
“In Malaysia, we also support national and local road safety initiatives, including the implementation of the child restrained system law and the development of local and national action plans,” she said.
She hoped that Malaysia will undertake the new global plan in reducing road traffic deaths and injuries by at least 50% by 2030 and beyond.
“Where actions to implement road safety themes and legislations are ongoing, there’s a need for all sectors of society to play their part.
“This includes the private sector, the local community and all of us as individuals. We can all be road safety role models through the simple actions we take every day such as wearing a helmet or a seatbelt, and observing the speed limits and slow zones,” she said.