21 November 2010 - To mark World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, the World Health Organization and the Afghan Ministry of Public Health remember the many citizens who unnecessarily lost their lives in Afghanistan's streets year after year and renew their commitment to preventing further road traffic injuries and deaths.

Road traffic crashes kill nearly 1.3 million people each year on the world's roads – more than 3000 deaths every day – and injure or disable as many as 50 million more. They are the leading cause of death among young people aged 10-24 years. More than half of these accidents are sustained by people that are not travelling in a car, but are either pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists.

"Afghanistan now realizes the critical increase in and public health challenge posed by road traffic deaths," declared Her Excellency Dr Suraya Dalil, Acting Minister of Public Health. "We pledge our political will to focus on preventive measures as these are stunning figures that need not, and should not, be so high."

Earlier this year, the UN General Assembly declared the first-ever “Decade of Action for Road Safety,” providing an opportunity for global action. The World Health Organization is supporting the Ministry of Public Health to launch their national plan for the Global Decade of Action for Road Safety on 11 May next year to ensure that the Decade leads to real improvements by making roads and vehicles safer, improving the behaviour of drivers and pedestrians, and enhancing emergency services.

"To set measurable priorities and targets and evaluate their impact, we first need to know the magnitude of road traffic injuries in Afghanistan," claimed Peter Graaff, WHO Representative to Afghanistan. "But one thing is clear: simple road safety measures such as wearing seatbelts, obeying speed limits and avoiding the use of mobile phones and other distractions can spare your own life, of other passengers in your vehicle and on the road."

Data shows that Afghanistan currently does not have a motorcycle helmet law, nor a seat-belt law. In addition, there is no formal, publicly available pre-hospital care system to deal with road traffic victims.