Amount Of Road Traffic Fatalities On Rise, Averaging 1.35Mln Deaths Per Year - WHO Report

Amount of Road Traffic Fatalities on Rise, Averaging 1.35Mln Deaths Per Year - WHO Report

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said in its new report that the amount of road traffic fatalities continues to grow, amounting to about 1.35 million deaths annually.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2018) The World Health Organization (WHO) has said in its new report that the amount of road traffic fatalities continues to grow, amounting to about 1.35 million deaths annually.

"The number of deaths on the world's roads remains unacceptably high, with an estimated 1.35 million people dying each year," the 2018 WHO Global status report on road safety read.

In addition, the WHO found that road traffic injuries became the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 5 and 29.

"Road traffic injuries are currently the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years, signaling a need for a shift in the current child and adolescent health agenda which, to date, has largely neglected road safety," the report read.

In contrast, the WHO said that despite the rise in the overall number of deaths connected to road traffic, the rates of death relative to the global population had been stable over recent years. The organization believed this reflected the efficiency of road safety efforts made by some countries.

According to the report, these measures contributed to reductions in road traffic deaths in about 50 middle- and high-income countries. At the same time, not a single low-income country demonstrated any progress on the issue.