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On behalf of WHO, please let me start by warmly welcoming you to this International Workshop on Motorcycle Safety.
We are here today to answer a simple, but fundamentally important, question: how do we make roads safer for motorcyclists?
And what better place to be having this discussion than here in Ha Noi, where you only have to step out on the street to see some of the safety challenges and risks. At the same time, Viet Nam has taken huge strides in improving safety for people who travel by motorcycle – so there is a great deal of rich experience from this country to share.
In the two years since I became the WHO Representative in Viet Nam, I have never stopped being amazed at the role that motorcycles play here: transporting whole families to and from work and school; riders shipping a huge range – of sometimes huge goods – from one side of the city to another; and entrepreneurs with what seem like their entire businesses on the back of their small motorbikes.
And it is no wonder that motorbikes are popular – they are convenient, inexpensive and can go virtually anywhere with ease. I personally can vouch for this, one of my favourite things about life in Ha Noi is zipping around the streets of Tay Ho on my electric scooter.
And obviously I am not alone. According to the National Traffic Safety Committee, there are now more than 74 million motorcycles in Viet Nam – that is more motorcycles than there are adults. They make up more than 9 in every 10 motorized vehicles on the roads.
In recent years, Viet Nam has made impressive progress in making roads safer for its motorcyclists – through legislation, policy changes, awareness programmes, and infrastructure improvements.
These measures have contributed to reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities.
According to WHO’s Global Road Safety Report published in 2023, Viet Nam reduced road traffic fatalities by more than 40% between 2010 and 2021.
That is a huge achievement. But of course, there is more to do – here in Viet Nam, and in every country around the world, to make roads safer for motorcyclists, who account for as many as 1 in every 2 road traffic deaths in places like Southeast Asia, where motorcycle usage is high.
Motorcycle crashes are both predictable, and almost entirely preventable. We should never accept them as inevitable.
With this in mind, as the lead agency for road safety within the UN, WHO is of course strongly committed to playing our part in making roads safer for everyone who travels by motorcycle.
I would like to quickly share four examples of how we are doing this.
First, in October 2022, WHO and partners launched an updated manual to help policymakers end road deaths and injuries involving motorcycles. It includes guidelines on safer roads, vehicle safety standards and improved responses to crashes.
Secondly, in February this year, WHO launched the first global technical advisory group on powered two- and three-wheeled vehicle safety – to help shape laws, policies, regulations and research to reduce fatal crashes. Your discussions at this meeting will help feed into this work.
Third, WHO is looking into the issue of child passenger safety, and working with industry and researchers to identify options to minimize the risks to children.
And fourth, here in Viet Nam, WHO has been working for many years to support policy development, enforcement and public awareness to strengthen road safety – and we look forward to continue doing so into the future, with a particular focus on supporting implementation of the new and improved Road Traffic Order and Safety Law, once it comes into effect on the 1st of January 2025.
Of course, we cannot do any of this alone – and I want to thank all of our partners and the many organizations represented here today, who make such important contributions to this work.
In closing, once again it is my great pleasure to welcome you all to the workshop. I wish you very productive discussions, and look forward to our continued work together to make roads safer for all motorcyclists and motorcycle passengers, here in Viet Nam and around the world.
Xin cảm ơn!