World Health Day
This year the world helath day was celebrated with a slightly different theme_ Road Traffic Accidents. WHO estimates that if the current trend of increasing road traffic acidents contiues the number of deaths and disabilities will amount to number three on the WHO list of leading cointributors to disease burden by the year 2020.
Another estimate tells us that in the year 2002 road traffic accidents and crashes killed 1.18 million people and injured about 20 to 50 million more.
In Pakistan 45,000 people have beem killed in traffic accidents during the last 9 years. This is an alarmingly high number of deaths from any cause.
Studies also tell us that in developed countries there is one car to every 2 to 3 persons. And if you look at the recent budding of cars in Pakistani cities you would bear no doubt in mind that Pakistanis are catching up faster than ever in this race. More cars mean more pollution and more traffic hazards. They also mean more reckless use of traffic horns, atleast in Pakistan.
I think there are multitude of causes for such a high number of road traffic accidents and consequent loss of human lives. But the primary cause is loss of respect for human life in countries like Pakistan. Here living conditions of an ordinary man have depilitated to a level that he doesn't care about his own life or that of a fellow human being. Every day we read news in the papers where by passers are crushed by buses over speeding just to get to the next stop and bundle in all the passengers they can. Then there is the problem of issuance of driving lisences without any proper testing of the driving skills and adding to this is the burden of thousands of those drivers on our roads who start driving prematurely without any lisences (myself included). then there is the problem of different modes of transport running on the same congested road. From bicycles to rickshaws to buses to donkey carts all plying on the same. The roads are not boasting a good driving condition either. Highways and urban roads alike are ruined by years of neglect. More injurede are bound to die for the lack of proper trauma care facilities in our hospitals. Where they are available they are too expensive and the procedure involved too cumbersome and long involving police and judiciary.
Thus i see that such a high number of road trafic accidents are not so surprising after all. But this is no excuse for killing people. Where our Govt. needs to look into some of the causes and rectify the problem we as a nation need to improve our condition too. No one can teach us to respect others spehere of presence and also no one can tell us to go get a valid driving lisence. We need to do it on our own. Deaths and injuries due to Rooad Traffic Accidents can be reduced if not avoided completely through our collective awareness and efforts.
Refrence [Pakistan Times]
[Dawn Daily]
[Daily Times]
This year the world helath day was celebrated with a slightly different theme_ Road Traffic Accidents. WHO estimates that if the current trend of increasing road traffic acidents contiues the number of deaths and disabilities will amount to number three on the WHO list of leading cointributors to disease burden by the year 2020.
Another estimate tells us that in the year 2002 road traffic accidents and crashes killed 1.18 million people and injured about 20 to 50 million more.
In Pakistan 45,000 people have beem killed in traffic accidents during the last 9 years. This is an alarmingly high number of deaths from any cause.
Studies also tell us that in developed countries there is one car to every 2 to 3 persons. And if you look at the recent budding of cars in Pakistani cities you would bear no doubt in mind that Pakistanis are catching up faster than ever in this race. More cars mean more pollution and more traffic hazards. They also mean more reckless use of traffic horns, atleast in Pakistan.
I think there are multitude of causes for such a high number of road traffic accidents and consequent loss of human lives. But the primary cause is loss of respect for human life in countries like Pakistan. Here living conditions of an ordinary man have depilitated to a level that he doesn't care about his own life or that of a fellow human being. Every day we read news in the papers where by passers are crushed by buses over speeding just to get to the next stop and bundle in all the passengers they can. Then there is the problem of issuance of driving lisences without any proper testing of the driving skills and adding to this is the burden of thousands of those drivers on our roads who start driving prematurely without any lisences (myself included). then there is the problem of different modes of transport running on the same congested road. From bicycles to rickshaws to buses to donkey carts all plying on the same. The roads are not boasting a good driving condition either. Highways and urban roads alike are ruined by years of neglect. More injurede are bound to die for the lack of proper trauma care facilities in our hospitals. Where they are available they are too expensive and the procedure involved too cumbersome and long involving police and judiciary.
Thus i see that such a high number of road trafic accidents are not so surprising after all. But this is no excuse for killing people. Where our Govt. needs to look into some of the causes and rectify the problem we as a nation need to improve our condition too. No one can teach us to respect others spehere of presence and also no one can tell us to go get a valid driving lisence. We need to do it on our own. Deaths and injuries due to Rooad Traffic Accidents can be reduced if not avoided completely through our collective awareness and efforts.
Refrence [Pakistan Times]
[Dawn Daily]
[Daily Times]
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