The Road Safety in 10 Countries Project (RS10) was funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies back in 2010 to improve road safety in 10 low and middle income countries (LMICs). A consortium of partners iniated this program and worked in key areas of focus in improving road safety from road trauma care to the promotion of seatbelt and helmet use. The project has now received additional funding to continue its work.
The Road Safety in 10 Countries (RS10) Project has received another major boost with a 2-year, multi-million dollar grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to continue developing model programmes in select countries and monitoring road safety progress worldwide. Coordinated by WHO, the consortium-based RS10 Project has achieved notable outcomes in its first two years, including increased helmet and seat-belt wearing in several countries, and reduced drinking and driving and speeding in others.
The RS10 Project currently works in the following 10 countries:
- Brazil
- Cambodia,
- China
- Egypt
- India
- Kenya
- Mexico
- Russian Federation
- Turkey
- Vietnam
Additionally, the project focuses on trauma care in Kenya and India, and data systems development in Kenya and Egypt.
2012 marks the half-way point in this 5-year project whose overall goal is to prevent thousands of road traffic deaths and injuries. Conducted during the Decade of Action for Road Safety, the RS10 Project will provide useful information on “what works” in developing countries while the second Global status report on road safety will provide a baseline from which to measure Decade achievements.
Some of RS10’s Activities Include:
- Reviewing the current road safety legislation and proposing appropriate amendments where necessary.
- Developing road safety social marketing campaigns relating to specific risk factors to be addressed nationally and in specific intervention sites. These are aimed at sensitizing the general public about particularly risky behaviour, or at increasing their awareness about enforcement;
- Procuring equipment relating to the identified riskfactors (e.g. alcohol breathalyzers, speed radars) and training police in their use;
- Training police in enhanced enforcement practices and supporting the implementation there of; Training other road safety personnel including health care workers about road traffic injury prevention;
- Improving the road traffic data information systems in two countries;
- Assessing the prehospital and trauma care needs in two countries and addressing these through training, provision of equipment, monitoring, etc.; and
- Ongoing monitoring of key indicators in the intervention sites.
More information about RS10 can be found in attachments.