The Nepal Police with support from WHO, Country Office for Nepal, organized a sensitization program on road safety in Janakpur, Madhesh Province, on 3 March 2024 in the presence of Saroj Kumar Yadav, Chief Minister of the Province, and other high-ranking political leaders and bureaucrats from the province.
Participants included Krishna Prasad Yadav, Provincial Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Development; Mohammad Samim, Minister of Home, Communications and Law; Sanjay Kumar Yadav, Minister of Finance; Birendra Prasad Singh, Minister of Health and Population; Chakra Pandey, Chief District Officer of Dhanusha District; members of the parliament and secretaries of the Province Government; senior police officers; chief of police; representatives from WHO and various government offices and media personnel.
Santosh Niraula, District Sub-inspector of Police and Dr Kedar Marahatta, National Professional Officer for Mental Health and Road Safety, delivered presentations encompassing important information about the current situation of road safety in the province, the major risk factors and causes for road traffic crashes in Nepal, and key interventions required to minimize road traffic crashes and resulting deaths and injuries from such cases.
Following the presentation, participants engaged in a robust discussion and identified three key areas requiring focused attention from concerned authorities to reduce road traffic crashes and subsequent impact on health:
To expand and strictly implement drink driving countermeasures,
To initiate implementation of comprehensive helmet use for motorbike riders,
To enforce speed management
To scale up drink and drive counter measures in the province, WHO, Country Office for Nepal handed over 30 units of breathalyzers to Nepal Police during the program. Nepal Police plans to set up 30 additional check points at crashes prone areas and along highway stretches, covering all 8 districts of the province.
Madhesh Province witnessed the highest road traffic crashes among the country’s seven provinces last year with 17 road traffic crashes and 2 daily deaths. Similarly the province reported the most deaths and injuries caused by road crashes at 1430 per 100 000.
Chief Minister Yadav appreciated the work being done by WHO Nepal and Nepal Police to improve road safety, and expressed his full support for this initiative and committed to provide additional equipment and resources to set up check points, to install security cameras and other support to the Police.
The United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 aims to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by at least 50% by 2030. As the lead agency for road safety in the United Nations, WHO plays a key role in guiding global efforts by advocating for road safety at the highest political levels, compiling and sharing good practices and raising awareness of road safety.