Dire need to prevent Road Traffic Crashes in Pakistan:Dr Rizwan Naseer

Lahore: The Director General, Emergency Services Punjab, Dr. Rizwan Naseer said on the occasion of World Health Day that there was dire need to prevent Road Traffic Crashes in Pakistan, which had become the leading cause of death and disabilities among young breadwinners of the society, leading to a huge socio-economic burden. He further said that by 2020 this would be the third leading cause of death and disabilities in developing countries.

Dr. Rizwan Naseer said that nearly 1.3 million people die in road crashes globally and 50 million are injured or disabled each year, while currently this is the 10^th leading cause of death all over the world. The Director General said we should realize that over 90 percent of all road fatalities occur in low and middle-income countries (like Pakistan), which have less than half of the world’s vehicles. Similarly, he said that road crashes cost 518 billion dollar globally, costing individual countries from 1-3 percent of their gross national product.

According to the data, Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) along has managed over 645428 so far, whereas the Service is responding to nearly 500 road traffic crashes on daily basis in all 36 Districts of the Punjab.

Dr. Rizwan Naseer said that injuries are not accidents, but take place due to the fault of the driver; vehicle, road or the road users and these can easily be prevented by changing minds and having road sense. He said that we can definitely prevent these accidents by better planning and effective strategy.