WHO factsheet on spinal cord Injury (SCI) presents key facts related to spinal cord injury (SCI). It includes the following details: background information; prevalence; demographic trends; mortality; the health, economic and social consequences of SCI; prevention; improving care and overcoming barriers; and WHO response
"This report presents information on road safety from 182 countries, accounting for almost 99% of the world’s population. The report indicates that worldwide the total number of road traffic deaths remains unacceptably high at 1.24 million per year. Only 28 countries, covering 7% of the world’s population, have comprehensive road safety laws on five key risk factors: drinking and driving, speeding, and failing to use motorcycle helmets, seat-belts, and child restraints. This report serves as a baseline for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, declared by the UN General Assembly. This is the second in a Global status report series"
This declaration from the first global ministerial conference on road safety acknowledges the global road safety crisis and recognises current initiatives. It highlights 11 resolutions and invites the UN to establish a Decade of Action for Road Safety from 2011-2020. This declaration is useful to those interested in road safety
First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety : Time for Action
Moscow, Russia
19-20 November 2009
This report contains recommendations to Governments from NGOs advocating for road victims and road safety. 33 recommendations are provided to improve road safety in the following five topics: general approach, prevention, post crash response, worldwide learning and joint initiatives and action. This report is useful to anyone interested in advocacy for road victims and road safety
Global Meeting of NGOs Advocating for Road Safety and Road Victims
Brussels, Belgium
7-8 May 2009
"This manual provides practical advice to road safety practitioners on how to achieve a much higher proportion of users of two-wheeled vehicles wearing helmets. It follows on from the World report on road traffic injury prevention, which described evidence that setting and enforcing mandatory helmet use is an effective intervention for reducing injuries and fatalities among two-wheeler users. The manual is one of a series of documents produce by an informal consortium (WHO, the Global Road Safety Partnership, the World Bank, and the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society) that aims to provide guidance to countries on how to implement some of the recommendations identified within the World Report, and thus improve their overall road safety record"
These guidelines provide a series of resource tables for essential trauma care that detail the human and physical resources that should be in place to assure optimal care of the injured patient at a range of health facilities throughout the world. The health facilities range from rural health posts, to small hospitals staffed by general practitioners, to hospitals staffed by specialists, to tertiary care centres. They also offer a series of recommendations on methods to promote such standards including training, performance improvement, trauma team organisation and hospital inspection.
The guidelines are a collaboration between the World Health Organization, the International Society of Surgery and the International Association for the Surgery of Trauma and Surgical Intensive Care
"This joint WHO/World Bank report on road traffic injury prevention is an important part of the response to the world’s road safety crisis. It is directed at international, regional and national policy-makers, international agencies and key professionals in public health, transport, engineering, education and other sectors, and aims to stimulate action for road safety. It sets out universal principles rather than a ‘blue print’ for worldwide application, recognizing fully the need to identify local needs and the adaptation of ‘best practices’ accordingly"
Note: a summary of the report and a report factsheet are also available
This report from the World Health Assembly recognises that road traffic injuries are a public health problem and advocates for prevention initiatives on road safety and health. It highlights 13 recommendations for member states and eight requests to the Director-General. This paper is useful to those interested in road traffic injuries and road safety
World Health Assembly
Geneva, Switzerland
17-22 May 2004
WHA57.10
A toolkit to support the planning of events in celebration of World Health Day 2004. World Health Day 2004's focus issue is road safety. The toolkit contains ideas of activities, the objectives and messages of the day, and a list of WHO contacts
This report argues that real progress in health depends on strengthening health systems, centred on the principles of primary health care. This requires effective use of existing knowledge and technologies and innovation to create new health tools, along with appropriate structures and strategies to apply them. Success will need new forms of cooperation between international health agencies, national health leaders, health workers and communities, and other relevant sectors. Chapter 1 of the report looks at the current state of global health, highlighting the gap between the poor and better-off everywhere. Chapter 2 reflects on the slow progress towards achieving the Millenium Development Goals. Chapter 3 looks at the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and demonstrates why HIV/AIDS control needs to drive the agenda for the global health community. Chapter 4 looks at the steps needed to achieve polio eradication within the next few years, and chapter 5 concentrates on the lessons learned from the SARS outbreak. The theme of chapter 6 is the the overlap between communicable and non-communicable diseases and injuries occurring throughout the developing world, leading to a crisis of priorities for health systems. The concluding chapter returns to the statement that stronger health systems are necessary, and that strengthening health systems should be based on the principles and practices of primary health care
"WHO works with partners - governmental and nongovernmental - around the world to raise the profile of the preventability of road traffic injuries and promote good practices related to helmet and seat-belt wearing, not drinking and driving, not speeding and being visible in traffic." This website describes global and national road safety initiatives, and provides links to related publications, multimedia, and events. It is useful to anyone interested in road traffic injuries and road safety
