Editorial

What in the World is Happening with Helmets?
I have just looked at a list of visitors to the WHO Helmet Initiative website by country in the last 24 hours  – we’ve had visitors not only from the United Sates but also from Germany, Switzerland, India, Malaysia, and Jordan.  Most of the stories contributed to Headlines, however, come from high-income countries. How can this be? The majority of the world’s riders of motorcycles and bicycles live, work, and ride in low-income countries. Anecdotal reports, as well as my own travel experience, show that helmet use in these countries is as low – or even lower – than in high-income countries. And, we’ll wager that head injuries in these countries are increasing as well.

With the notable exception of two programs – the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (www.asiainjury.org) in Vietnam, and the Accidon’ts program sponsored by Johnson & Johnson and based in Singapore – we know very little about helmet promotion and research activities in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. We’re interested in learning more. What are the successes and failures you have had with helmets? Do you believe that legislation is necessary to promote helmet use? What kinds of helmets are available in your country? Are they quality products? Are they affordable? What do you and your country need to help make helmets more popular? What factors enhance or limit helmet use in your country?

The Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, have recently concluded, and we have included an article on ski and snowboarding helmets. I watched several of the events on TV and was impressed that all of the athletes in the downhill and snowboard events were wearing helmets. Clearly they – or the organizations governing their sports – know something about the effectiveness of helmets. What got them to wear helmets? There haven’t been many studies about ski/snowboard helmet effectiveness. Has personal experience convinced the athletes to use them? We’d like to know more.

Finally, in this issue we have included an announcement about the World Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Conference and the Safe Communities Conference that will be held during the first weeks in April in South Africa. These conferences are unbeatable opportunities to get up to date on injury and safety issues and to talk about helmets. We plan to have a meeting of those interested in the WHO Helmet Initiative during the Durban meeting, most likely April 4 or 5. If you can possibly swing it, try to be at these meetings.

We look forward to meeting you in person in Durban and in Capetown, and as always, we welcome your comments, articles and reports.

Philip L. Graitcer

Facilitator, WHO Helmet Initiative

WORLD INJURY PREVENTION AND SAFE COMMUNITIES MEETINGS

The 8th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion will be held in Durban , South Africa, April 2-5, 2006. The Conference, which will have more than one thousand participants, will feature keynote presentations, research reports, and poster sessions from some of the world’s leading injury prevention researchers and practitioners. The theme of the Conference - from Data to Action- challenges injury and safety researchers, practitioners and decision-makers to discuss ways in which high quality scientific data can and must be translated into concrete injury prevention policies and practices. There will be plenty of time for informal meetings with participants from around the world, including representatives from the WHO Helmet Initiative. For more information, go to the conference web site: http://www.safety2006.info/index.aspx

Immediately following the Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Conference, the 15th International Safe Communities Conference will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, April 9 -11, 2006. For more information, visit the Conference website.

Does Motorcycle Education Reduce Injuries?
In Thailand, as in other Asia nations, motorcycles are an important mode of transport. They are swift, cheap and fuel-efficient.  Since 1996, motorcycles have made up almost 80% of all registered motor vehicles in the rural north Thailand province of Tak, about 500 km north of Bangkok. Motorcycle injuries have been increasing along with increased numbers of motorcycles. As a result, researchers at the Department of Community and Social Medicine at the Mae Sot General Hospital in Tak sought ways to reduce the number and severity of motorcycle injuries and reduce fatalities. read more

Update from Two States
In Montana, a state without a helmet law, motorcycle deaths in 2005 approached a 20-year high. As of September 26th, there was a 27 percent increase of motorcycle deaths over the same period in 2004 and the highest number since 1985 (Nationwide motorcycle deaths have increased for the seventh year in a row, up nearly 8% last year to 4,008, even as deaths involving other vehicles dropped for the second year in a row – annual NHTSA study). read more

Looking Again: Do Bicycle Helmets Work?
California became the sixth state in the US to pass bicycle helmet legislation for children under 18 years of age. The law became effective on 1 January 1994. In San Diego County, from July 1991 through June 1994, there were 725 bicycle-related injuries, including 41 deaths, treated at trauma centers in the county. A majority of the injuries (51.6%) were among those aged 19 years or less.. After an excellent introduction reviewing work to date on the efficacy of bicycle helmets, the authors present their study that uses an ecological trend design to evaluate the effect of the helmet law in San Diego County by measuring: (a) the reduction of bicycle-related head injuries, the ultimate goal of such legislation, and (b) the increase in helmet use. read more

Are helmets effective in preventing or reducing ski/snowboard head and neck injury?
Two researchers – Hagel and Pless - have recently published a fairly exhaustive study that examines the effectiveness of ski and snowboard helmets. Persons with head or neck injuries came from 19 ski areas in Quebec, Canada. read more

ATV Self-regulation Crashes; Injuries Rise Again
In 1988, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and all-terrain vehicle (ATV) manufacturers agreed on a ten-year period of a consent decree requiring safety regulations. read more

NHTSA Tells It Like It Is
America’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently put on its Web site a 219-page study of bicycle helmet laws in six US states and towns, including one where the law was repealed. read more

INJURY COURSE TRAINING MATERIALS AVAILABLE
The World Health Organization, Department of Injuries and Violence Prevention (VIP) has released TEACH-VIP. It is a comprehensive injury prevention and control curriculum which has been developed through the efforts of WHO and a network of global injury prevention experts. read more