WORLD HEALTH DAY - 'ROAD SAFETY IS NO ACCIDENT' - THEME

Wednesday, April 7, 2004 was celebrated as World Health Day - the theme of which was 'Road Safety Is No Accident'.

The objectives of the celebration are :

• To raise awareness about the health impact, social and economic costs of road traffic accidents
• To highlight the particular vulnerabilities of certain groups of road users and
• To issue a call for action to increase efforts to prevent road traffic accidents
  

The actual celebration of World Health Day started on Sunday, April 4 with a church service at Webster United Church on Half Way Tree Road. All three Ministers who collaborated re: World Health Day, Minister Robert Pickersgill, Minister John Junor and Minister Maxine Henry-Wilson were all in attendance at the service and addressed the congregation.

On Wednesday, during the commemoration of World Health Day, the National Road Safety Policy was launched while a wide scale pedestrian safety programme inclusive of the switching on of a driver feedback sign was initiated. This took place on Mountain View Avenue in the vicinity of the EXED Community College. Simultaneous with these activities on Mountain View Avenue, an all-island programme was initiated in which pedestrian crossings were either erected or repaired. This thrust is expected to be ongoing throughout May, particularly Labour Day and climax in June which will be celebrated as Road Safety Month.

At the ceremony held on the EXED Community College compound, various stakeholders were on hand to witness the switching on of the Driver Feedback sign which was sponsored by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) in association with 3M International.

All three Ministers associated with the project, Minister Robert Pickersgill representing the Ministry of Transport and Works, Minister John Junor from the Ministry of Health and Minister Maxine Henry-Wilson out of the Ministry of Education made presentations at the function. Minister Junor in his capacity as Health Minister disclosed that road traffic injuries are now the most costly medical concern locally. He noted that on a list of top ten medical concerns, traffic accidents demanded the most expenditure. Continuing, Minister Junor highlighted the fact that the cost of injuries exceeded the cost of caring for people with obstetric, gynaecological, diabetes and cardiovascular illnesses.

For his part, Minister Pickersgill used the opportunity to highlight the stark reality of the accident situation in the country currently. He said that up to April 16, 2004, sixty-nine accidents had occurred with seventy-five deaths as a result. In 2003, there 354 accidents with 391 fatalities. In that same year, 1450 persons suffered serious injuries while 2,591 received minor injuries. In an effort to stem the rising accident statistics, Minister Pickersgill noted that the Transport Authority and the police have been working assiduously to have some improvements. Later in the parliamentary year, the Minisrter says he will be piloting amendments to the Road Traffic Act with a view to addressing some of the concerns. The Transport Authority is currently working with the Island Traffic Authority and the police to catch particularly on the #82 route - Cross Roads to Waterhouse with a view to catch offenders particularly as it relates to the alleged matter of students having sex on the buses. He also spoke of the colour coding system for the identification of route taxis. In this respect, he explained that approximately 2000 prospective taxi operators had applied for colour codes which will see the new operator collecting his/her code at the time of collecting the license.

The Ministry is also working along with various organisations in an effort to secure increased involvement in the national drive to promote and achieve greater levels of road safety. In this respect, he acknowledged the efforts of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) for their sterling contributions. He made special mention of PAHO's part in sponsoring a device new to Jamaica, the Driver Feedback Sign which was erected on Mountain View Avenue. The sign is an innovation of 3M Interamerica Inc. The sign is an interactive one that gives the driver feedback about the speed at which he or she is travelling. The sign provides motorists with real-time feedback on their actual speed and also incorporates a Light Emitting Device (LED) that alerts the drivers to adjust their speed once they are moving at a pace that is faster than the posted speed limit.

British Caribbean Insurance Company (BCIC) was also lauded for their efforts as they are the first private sector company to sponsor the erection of two of the Driver Feedback Signs. These will be placed at designated locations in St. Catherine and Montego Bay, St. James on Labour Day.

In addition to the commissioning of the Driver Feedback Sign, a campaign designed to assist pedestrians to cross the road was introduced on World Health Day. A demonstration of this particular initiative was done by children along with officials on the day. A jingle promoting this road crossing exercise has been created - a few of the lines - "PUT YOUR HAND UP IN THE AIR, BEFORE YOU DO THE WALKING, LET YOUR HAND DO THE TALKING"

Minister of Education, Maxine Henry-Wilson read the message from the Prime Minister who is the chairman of the National Road Safety Committee.