Cote d’Ivoire needs assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in combating traffic safety hazards in addition to the assistance it already receives to fight A.I.D.S., a physician leading the drive to help, told GlobalAtlanta when visiting Atlanta last month.
“Road accidents are one of the most critical problems our country faces,” said Yves Lambin, president of Societe Ivoirenne de Chirurgie Orthopedique et Traumatologie and a professor at the University of Abidjan in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, who explained that traffic laws are often violated.
The orthopedic society, which represents some 30 orthopedic specialists in Cote d’Ivoire, wants the CDC to assist in establishing programs that help victims cope with accident traumas and with establishing educational initiatives to prevent accidents, said Dr. Lambin.
The organization also hopes to locate used equipment for treatment of accident victims during the first critical hours, as well as funding for a national educational campaign, he said.
According to the World Health Organization, there are an estimated 1.2 million people killed yearly in road accidents and 50 million are injured worldwide annually. These figures were released by the WTO during a one-day event held in Paris last April aimed at lowering deaths and injuries on the world’s roads in which the CDC participated.
According to Gail Hayes, senior press officer of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, this is the first time that WTO highlighted the growing global public health crisis associated with traffic accidents. The CDC regularly collaborates with other international organizations in promoting awareness of traffic injuries.
For more information contact Dr. Lambin at ivlamb@aviso.ci.