October 29, 2019, Colombo, Sri Lanka A ‘Symposium on Achieving Sustainable Road Safety in Sri Lanka: An update on legislation and law enforcement’ was conducted on October 19, 2019, in Colombo, Sri Lanka.The symposium emphasized the need for collaborative action to achieve sustainable road safety in Sri Lanka. It was attended by well over 100 individuals and included representation from numerous stakeholders, including the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education, the Attorney General’s Department, the Legal Department, the Department of Motor Traffic, the Road Development Authority, the National Transport Medical Institute, the National Road Safety Council, the Sri Lanka Medical Association, the Colombo Municipal Council, the University of Moratuwa, the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, the Faculty of Medicine, Effective Solutions (Pvt) Ltd, and the Open University of Sri Lanka, amongst others.
Road safety is an urgent public health issue that is both a national and WHO priority. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals set a target of halving the number of deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2020. However, the most recent WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety made it clear that insufficient progress has been made. In fact, road traffic deaths have risen in the recent past, with 1.35 million fatalities reported annually. Worldwide, road traffic injuries are now the number one cause of death for young people between the ages of 5 and 29.The South-East Asia region has the second highest rate of ro
ad traffic deaths in the world. In Sri Lanka, more than 3,000 road traffic deaths and over 35,000 road accidents were reported in 2018 (1). However, during his remarks, Mr Ajith Rohana, Deputy Inspector General Legal, Discipline and Conduct, stated that road accidents are under-reported by a considerable amount. Dr Razia Pendse,WHO Representative, stated that “there is a huge social and economic price to road safety. It is a drain on the system and on individuals and families,” and called for action to make Sri Lanka’s roads safer for all.(1) Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, National Council for Road Safety Statistics
The symposium was an opportunity to:
• highlight the importance of making road safety a political priority
• provide updates and information on road safety in Sri Lanka
• identify gaps in law enforcement and relevant legislation that need to be addressed
• advocate for the need to have a coordinated plan to increase road safety in Sri Lanka
It was a successful and informative meeting and WHO looks forward to partnering with all relevant stakeholders to increase road safety nationwide.