A new national television campaign drawing further public attention to two major risk factors for road traffic injury in Viet Nam; drink-driving and the wearing of substandard helmets by motorcycle riders and passengers has been launched by the National Traffic Safety Committee with support from the World Health Organization.
This campaign is implemented as part of the on-going Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Road Safety Program in ten countries, supporting the Government of Viet Nam on strengthening of implementation of key measures for road safety.
The first televised message reflects on the dangers and potential consequences of drink-driving. It also suggests using alternative forms of transport to get home after having a few beers with friends. This is the fourth collaborative campaign on drink driving prevention between WHO and National Traffic Safety Committee and continues to build on the hard hitting messages in previous campaigns, that alcohol and operating a vehicle do not go together. Evaluations of previously released campaigns have shown that they are changing people's attitudes and behaviours about drinking and driving with 60% average saying they did not drink and drive in the last 30 days in 2012 compared to 40% in 2011.
Video drink driving in Viet Nam
The second televised campaign, to be implemented simultaneously with the anti drink-driving message, communicates the importance to motorcycle riders and passengers of wearing a quality and properly fastened helmets. Recognizing the importance of helmet quality to their safety, market control authorities report that in only one–month period from March to April 2013, more than 100,000 riders have exchanged their inferior helmets for a national standard helmet and 53,000 fake helmets were confiscated and destroyed, greatly increasing the safety of thousands of motorcyclists.
Video helmet safety in Viet Nam
Dr Takeshi Kasai - WHO Representative to Viet Nam said "The Government's commitment to road safety is inspiring and we strongly commend their engagement and prioritization. We look forward to continuing our strong cooperation with national and provincial stakeholders, particularly the NTSC to achieve our common goal of saving lives on Viet Nam's roads.”