Road Traffic Accidents: Development's Collateral Damage and a Major
DOI Number: 10.5958/0974-1283.2019.00192.0 Road Traffic Accidents: Development’s Collateral Damage and a Major Public Health and Economic Concern Lena Ashok1, Zinnia Sharma2, Trupti Kambe Zodge3, Pranav V4, Namesh Malarout5, Alric D’Souza6, Sagarika Kamath7 1Associate Professor, 2Intern, Public Health Evidence South Asia, Prasanna School of Public Health, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India, 3Manager, Clinical Services, Sapphire Hospitals Private Limited Thane, 4Project Coordinator, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, Kerala, 5Scholar, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Karnataka, 6Assistant Professor, Prasanna School of Public Health, Manipal academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India, 7Assistant Professor, School of Management, Manipal Academy of Higher Education Abstract Road construction is viewed as a core development activity.The unfortunate downside of this is the increasing burden of Road traffic Injuries(RTIs). 50 years ago, the WHO was called upon to do something about the heavy human toll of RTIs. However, RTIs remain a very significant contributor to human morbidity and mortality. It is significant to note that the burden of RTIs has shifted to low and middle income countries (LMICs), which despite having only about 50% of the world’s motor vehicles, account for 90% of the burden of 12.5 lakh road traffic deaths and 2 to 5 crore non fatal road traffic injuries. UN Sustainable development goal (SDG) target 3.6 is to reduce by 50% the number of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes across the globe by 2020.This implies the saving of 50 lakh lives,the prevention of 5 crore serious injuries, and an economic benefit to the tune of over US$3 trillion.This is a major challenge.
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