Road dangers costly to nations

Lack of road safety is undermining global health and development, says a report released this week by the World Bank and the World Health Organization.

Although they are considered preventable, traffic troubles cost $518 billion worldwide, the report said.

Road safety was the theme of this year’s World Heath Day, which occurred Wednesday.

David De Ferranti, a vice president at the World Bank, said road crashes are a “large and increasing source of premature deaths.” Much like disease, traffic fatalities and injuries disproportionately affect poor countries. Of the 1.2 million deaths caused by road crashes every year, 85 percent occur in developing nations.

Combined with the large numbers of those injured on roads, the cost to those countries is 1 percent to 2 percent of their gross national product, the World Report on Road Traffic Safety said.

Spending related to road crashes costs the countries more than they receive in aid for development.

As those countries become more motorized, the United States should “help them have access to the best safety measures available,” President Bush said in a taped message on World Health Day.

Kirk Van Tine, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, said different approaches are needed for different countries, but basic principles, such as having one agency lead the efforts, would help nations address the problem.

The report’s recommendations say the solution is as simple as mandating seat belts and as complex as changing the design of a country’s infrastructure.

As countries design their cities, distribution of traffic and pedestrian safety should be a priority, Mr. De Ferranti said.

The World Bank, the World Health Organization and others signed a declaration to work together for road safety in the Americas. The National Institutes of Health is dedicating $7 million in the next five years to investigate deaths caused by trauma or injury and their burden on the developing world.

Heather Mills-McCartney, the wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney, received a Champion of Health Award from the Pan American Health Organization for her work toward global road safety. Mrs. Mills-McCartney lost her leg when a police motorcycle crashed into her. She recently taped a commercial for the road-safety campaign.