Road safety in Brazil
Road traffic crashes killed 37 407 people in Brazil in 2007 and another 124 thousand were hospitalized. The majority of these people are vulnerable road users – pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists. According to the recently published WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety, Brazil has an excellent legal framework with comprehensive laws covering key risk factors, though enforcement of these laws remains a challenge. Brazil is one of the ten countries included in the WHO Road Safety in 10 countries project which will be conducted over 5-years by a consortium of six international partners.
Fact sheet
Road safety project
In Brazil, the project Vida no Trânsito (Life in Traffic) is led by an interministerial working group, chaired by the Ministry of Health and the WHO/PAHO Brazil office and involving representatives from the Ministry of Cities, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Justice, the Home Office of the President of the Republic (Casa Civil), the Human Rights Secretariat (SEDH), and the National Drug Enforcement Secretariat (SENAD). WHO, the Global Road Safety Partnership, and the International Injury Research Unit at Johns Hopkins University are the international consortium partners who will provide technical guidance and funding.
The project was officially launched on 18 June 2010 and will focus on drink-driving reduction and speed management in 2010-2010. Implementations sites include one state capitol in each major geographical region of the country:
- North region: Palmas (Tocantins)
- Northeast: Teresina (Piauí)
- Southeast: Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais)
- South: Curitiba (Paraná)
- Central/West: Campo Grande (Mato Grosso du Sul)
For more information, please contact :
Dr Diego Gonzalez on dgonzale@bra.ops-oms.org in the WHO/PAHO Brazil office,
Mr Meleckidzedeck Khayesi on khayesim@who.int at WHO headquarters, or
Dr Eugênia Rodrigues on rodrigem@paho.org at the WHO Regional Office for the Americas.