RS-10 addresses “evidence-to-action” gap according to American Journal of Public Health
“The American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) is the publication that health agencies, universities, government agencies and foundations go to when they want to publish important public health research”, states the American Public Health Association. A journal with current and in-depth research on public health, the June 2012 issue includes a focus on the health dimension of road traffic injuries (RTIs).
It highlights the participation of the Global Road Safety Partnership’s role in the Bloomberg Philanthropies funded road safety consortium programme, Road Safety in 10 Countries (RS-10), and its approach as well as effectiveness as a global initiative in addressing the implementation gap in road safety.
In 2004, the AJPH points out that with the publication of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention by the World Health Organization, the global health community recognised the importance of RTIs as a growing crisis, as well as the lack of existing programmes to implement evidence-based interventions.
Facts and figures further illustrate the clear need to address the issue. The AJPH underlines for example, the reality that the burden of road traffic injury and death is concentrated in low-and middle-income countries, with ninety per cent of road traffic deaths occurring in these areas, despite the fact they have less than 50 per cent of the world’s registered automobiles.
RTIs are also estimated to cost US $100 billion each year in low- and middle-income countries – almost twice what they receive in aid assistance on an annual basis, and equivalent to 1% to 3% of their gross domestic product.
Yet despite the clear evidence, funding from developing countries simply has not aligned over the years. Consequently, the AJPH points out that the “growing body of evidence supporting the use of RTI interventions has yet to be operationalized into an effective program on the ground.”
The Bloomberg Philanthropies funded Road Safety in Ten Countries programme (RS10) is highlighted as a case study – an “example of how the global community can work toward closing the implementation gap in road safety…the project addresses many of the characteristics of an effective response”, states the AJPH.
Contact Gayle Di Pietro for further details
gayle.dipetro@ifrc.org
