The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Road crash deaths may double by 2020

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Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Road crash deaths may double by 2020

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: According to World Health Organisation estimates, road crashes kill more than 1.2 million people every year. By 2020, the number of deaths from road crashes will touch 2.3 million and 90 per cent of the deaths will occur in the low and middle income countries.

WHO has also predicted that road crashes will rise from the ninth to the third biggest cause of death and disability.

In this context, a national consultation workshop on “Drinking and driving” has been organised on Friday at the Grand Ashok, by the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) with support from the WHO, the World Bank, the Global Transport Knowledge Partnership and national partners.

A press release said that in India, road crashes account for around one lakh deaths a year, which is eight per cent of the world’s such deaths.

Manuals

To help tackle major risk factors, the GRSP, WHO, the World Bank, and the FIA Foundation have collaborated to produce a series of good practice manuals aimed at policy makers and practitioners world wide.

The latest in this series, developed by GRSP with help from a number of agencies, including NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) in India, is on the problem of drinking and driving. This manual is relevant to the situation in India where studies have shown that alcohol is a major contributory factor in road crashes.

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