| Editorial
Our Principles
The
goal of the World Health Organization Helmet Initiative is to prevent
head injuries in motorcyclists and bicyclists by promoting the use
of helmets. We believe that helmets are the single most effective
strategy in preventing these head injuries and base our belief on
the following principles:
Motorcycle
and bicycle helmets reduce head and brain injuries and prevent deaths
Motorcycle helmets reduce fatal and serious head injuries by
about 20 to 45 percent1. In population- and community-based studies,
bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of brain
injuries from 47-88 percent2. With injury reduction rates as high
as these, it is hard to imagine why all motorcyclists, bicyclists
and their passengers aren’t wearing helmets. Yet, only between
10 and 50 percent of bicyclists and motorcyclists wear helmets when
there are no laws to require their use3,4.
Helmet laws
increase the regular wearing of motorcycle and bicycle helmets
In countries, where there are helmet laws, wearing rates are higher.
In one region in Italy where motorcycle helmets are required, helmet
wearing rates are over 96 percent5. In California, motorcycle helmet
wearing increased from 50 percent to over 99 percent after a helmet wearing
law was passed3. A reduction in the number of motorcycle deaths
by 30 percent was noted in Malaysia where legislation requiring
the use of motorcycle helmets was introduced in 19736. In Victoria,
Australia, bicycle helmet use increased to 70-90 percent after a
law was passed7.
In
spite of the direct—and striking—relationship between
helmet laws and increased helmet wearing, limited knowledge and
misperceptions about the safety and effectiveness of helmets limits
the passage of laws requiring their use.
Objective
information about helmet effectiveness needs to be made available
to motorcyclists, bicyclists, policy makers and the general public
Misperceptions about the effectiveness of helmets could be a
reflection of failure by the research and advocacy community to
disseminate the relevant information about helmet wearing and laws
requiring their use. There is a wealth of published and peer reviewed
research on motorcycle and bicycle helmets that has dispelled many
of the concerns and misconceptions8.
Over the next
months, we will address these concerns and provide you with an
up-to-date and accurate resource on the design, promotion, and evaluation
of the use of motorcycle and bicycle helmets.
(The
World Health Organization has produced a fact sheet on helmets, taken from the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention.)
REFERENCES
1. Peden M. et al. World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention.
Geneva: World Health Organization; April 4, 2004.
2. Thompson DC, Rivara FP, Thompson R. Helmets for preventing head
and facial injuries in bicyclists.[see comment]. Cochrane Database
of Systematic Reviews. 2000(2):CD001855.
3. Kraus JF, Peek C, McArthur DL, Williams A. The effect of the
1992 California motorcycle helmet use law on motorcycle crash fatalities
and injuries.[see comment]. Jama. 1994;272(19):1506-1511.
4. Weiss BD. Bicycle-related head injuries. Clinics in Sports Medicine.
1994;13(1):99-112.
5. Servadei F, Begliomini C, Gardini E, Giustini M, Taggi F, Kraus
J. Effect of Italy's motorcycle helmet law on traumatic brain injuries.
Injury Prevention. 2003;9(3):257-260.
6. Supramaniam V, Belle V, Sung J. Fatal motorcycle accidents and
helmet laws in Peninsular Malaysia. Accident Analysis & Prevention.
1984;16:157-162.
7. Vulcan AP, Cameron MH, Watson WL. Mandatory bicycle helmet use:
experience in Victoria, Australia. World Journal of Surgery. 1992;16(3):389-397.
8. Rivara FP, Thompson DC, Patterson MQ, Thompson RS. Prevention
of bicycle-related injuries: helmets, education, and legislation.
Annual Review of Public Health. 1998;19:293-318.
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WELCOME
TO THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION HELMET INITIATIVE
The
WHO Helmet Initiative was established in 1991 to promote the use of
bicycle helmets as a universally important strategy to prevent and
control injuries.The
main objective of the new WHO Helmet Initiative remains the reduction
of head injuries through the promotion of helmets, but we’ve
expanded the scope to include motorcycle as well as bicycle helmets.
read more
HELMET
INITIATIVE PHOTO SEARCH
Throughout the world, motorcycles, motorbikes and bicycles have
replaced the dray horse as a means of transport. Motorcycle and
bicycles are used to carry goods—squealing pigs, a slaughtered
goat, chickens, and building supplies—as well as entire families.
Please share your pictures of bikes and motorbikes. We’re
especially interested in photographs of families riding with helmets.
Do you have a picture of an entire family on a bike or motorbike
with helmets? Send it to info@whohelmets.org.
TWO NEW SURVEYS
ON BICYCLE HELMET USE
National Safekids - According to a recent National SafeKids
survey, helmet use may be increasing but few children are wearing
helmets properly.
Utah Bicycle Helmet Survey - Over a ten-year period, helmet
wearing among all ages of bicyclists quadrupled - from 4.6% in 1994
to 19.9% today. read more
WORLD HEALTH
DAY - APRIL 7, 2004
The number of road traffic injuries continues to grow at an alarming
rate, creating a major global health problem. This year, World Health
Day was dedicated to road safety and the prevention of traffic injuries.
read more
NEPAL CHANGES
HELMET LAWS
The Asia Injury Foundation reported that the Nepalese Secretary of Ministry of Labor and Transport
Prem Nidhi Gyawali recently announced that helmets are now mandatory
for all passengers on motorbikes. read
more
NEW CDC BIBLIOGRAPHY
RELEASED
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center
for Injury Prevention and Control, has published a bibliography,
Behavioral Science Research in Unintentional Injury Prevention.
The Bibliography of Behavioral Science Research in Unintentional
Injury Prevention includes more than 900 citations of journal articles,
book chapters, government reports, and other publications. Designed
as a tool for researchers, practitioners and students, this bibliography
documents the contributions of behavioral and social sciences to
unintentional injury prevention and control from 1980-2003. For
more information, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/pub-res/behavioral.
DEVELOPING
AN EFFECTIVE AND APPROPRIATE HELMET FOR THE TROPICS: PROTECTING
THE VULNERABLE ROAD USER
In low-income countries, users of bicycle and motorbikes, rather
than occupants of automobiles, are most often the victims of traffic
injuries. These victims, often termed vulnerable road users, frequently
die or suffer permanent brain injury as a result of crashes on bicycles
and motorbikes. With improved roadways and growing economies, the
number of motorbikes in low-income countries (LIC) is increasing
at a dramatic rate. Not surprisingly, the number of head injuries
due to crashes is increasing as well. In Vietnam, for example, the
number of motorbikes grew from 500,000 to 10,000,000 in the past
ten years, and head injuries and deaths of unhelmeted motorbike
riders increased proportionally. read
more
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