Malaysia to adopt political declaration to improve road safety
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will reaffirm its commitment at the global stage on the agenda to save lives on the road at the United Nations (UN) High-Level Meeting tomorrow. Represented by transport minister Wee Ka Siong, Malaysia will adopt an 18-point political declaration together with other global leaders to address the…
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will reaffirm its commitment at the global stage on the agenda to save lives on the road at the United Nations (UN) High-Level Meeting tomorrow.
Represented by transport minister Wee Ka Siong, Malaysia will adopt an 18-point political declaration together with other global leaders to address the high number of road casualties worldwide.
A spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO) said the political declaration offers a vision for the future of mobility as one that promotes health and well-being, protects the environment and benefits the people by highlighting the links between road safety and sustainable development goals (SDGs).
“Among other outcomes, the political declaration seeks to convene a follow-up meeting (in the UN) on road safety in 2026, in an effort to sustain momentum and identify gaps and solutions to address progress towards the achievement of the road safety-related SDGs targeted by 2030,” said the spokesman.
Wee is expected to speak tomorrow about the political leadership for road safety from Malaysia’s perspective at the UN multi-stakeholder panel with the topic “Incorporating road safety into sustainable development: political will and whole-of-government approach”.
“Malaysia’s representative will showcase some examples of best practices, past notable efforts and future road safety plans as well as cooperation in Southeast Asia,” the WHO spokesman told FMT.
The overall theme of the High-level Meeting is “The 2030 horizon for road safety: securing a decade of action and delivery”.
The three-day meeting is a follow-up to the resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly on July 21, 2021 and Aug 31, 2020 to improve global road safety.
In the past, WHO had expressed concern over the high road traffic death rate among the youth in Malaysia.
At the launch of the WHO Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 for the Malaysia chapter in October last year, the then head of mission and WHO representative in Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore, Dr Jacqueline Lo, had said that road traffic injury accounted for 14% of deaths among children aged five to 14 years in Malaysia, “making it the leading cause of child mortality in Malaysia”.
WHO and the UN Regional Commissions developed the global plan with the target to halve the global road fatalities by 2030.
WHO reckons that road traffic crashes claim nearly 1.35 million lives worldwide annually and are the leading cause of death among children and young adults.
It is estimated that over 158,000 people have been killed and more than 1.5 million injuries have been sustained from road crashes in Malaysia since 1995.
The UN also estimated 3,000 children and young people are killed among the 3,700 lives lost overall every day around the world. Another 50 million children are seriously injured in crashes each year, with many left crippled.
Road traffic injuries worldwide have caused serious impact on national economies, costing countries 3% of their annual gross domestic product. — Free Malaysia Today