Her Excellency, Madam President, distinguished delegates, representatives of civil society, academic institutions, philanthropic foundations, and the private sector, ladies and gentlemen,
WHO thanks the government of Brazil for its leadership in preparing and hosting this Second global high-level conference on road safety. As an issue, road safety evokes passion and inspires partnerships. Both are here today.
Traffic crashes have multiple causes. Preventing them requires collaboration with multiple sectors of government, partnerships with industry, and support from civil society. I can think of few other public health issues that depend so strongly on multisectoral action and a whole-of-society approach.
This is an especially important year for road safety. We are at the midpoint in the UN Decade of action for road safety. You will be looking at progress to date and exchanging information and best practices from well over 100 countries.
This year is important for road safety for a second reason. The place of road safety on the development agenda is explicitly recognized by 2 targets in the Sustainable Development Goals, one each under the goals for health and cities.
First, by 2020, to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes. Second, by 2030 in cities, to provide access to safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable transport systems for all.
The health target is highly ambitious, yet feasible, as you will be discussing during this conference. It is a rallying point certain to stimulate further commitment and action.
The target for cities gives safe transport an added dimension: the need for equitable mobility, in the spirit of leaving no one behind. More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, where the vast majority of traffic crashes occur.
Sustainable development depends on mobility. People need safe, affordable, and accessible transport to get to work, get their children to school, and get their products to market.
Efforts to improve road safety benefit from a strong evidence base. We know how to develop good laws on key risk factors, the infrastructure changes needed to make roads safer, and the technologies that need to be applied to all new vehicles.
The price paid for unsafe roads is high, in economic terms as well as in human suffering. Trauma care, as health ministers know very well, is costly. Rehabilitation is costly. We must never forget that traffic crashes are a leading cause of permanent disabilities. These costs can cancel out the benefits that come with growing prosperity.
It is not hard to make a business case for safer roads. Many affordable road improvements, such as footpaths, safety barriers, bicycle lanes, and paved shoulders save lives. Footpaths or sidewalks and cycling lanes encourage physical activity, which is an especially important health asset in urban areas, as it contributes to the prevention of noncommunicable diseases.
In my view, what the SDGs ask us to do is two-fold. First, work together to create a world free of high-risk killer roads. And second, ensure that the benefits of safe mobility are evenly shared.
If we do both well, we will save lives, save money, support development, and reduce the vast human tragedy caused by more than a million largely predictable and preventable deaths each year.
Thank you.