As described in the 2004 World Health Organization/World Bank World report on road traffic injury prevention, road traffic injuries are a worldwide public health problem and a growing cause of death and injury around the world. Each year road crashes kill more than 1.2 million people, and as many as 50 million are injured or disabled as a result. Road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for children and young people aged 5–29 years, and according to projections from WHO, trauma will remain a global public health concern for the next twenty years. From 2011-2020, the UN/WHO Decade of Action for Road Safety aims to stop and possibly reverse the predicted trend of global road deaths by 2020, thus markedly reducing the global burden of disease caused by road traffic disasters. Accompanying the Decade of Action for Road Safety, this article collection in Journal of Trauma Management and Outcomes aims to be of interest to health professionals, stakeholders related to road safety, and the public. This series will cover key topics like pre-clinical care, injury prevention, surgical and interventional care, public health issues, within scope for the Decade of Road Safety, and aims to be a resource highlighting the substantial progress in epidemiologic and health-economic knowledge, methods of prevention, and effective care of road traffic injuries on a geopolitical level.
Mortality after road traffic crashes in a system with limited trauma data capability
Africa has 4% of the global vehicles but accounts for about one tenth of global vehicular deaths. Major trauma in Kenya is associated with excess mortality in comparison with series from trauma centers. The de...