Since 2000, traffic accidents have increased 15% every year.

To improve road safety in Cambodia through:

Helmet wearing promotion

Since 2002 WHO has collaborated with Handicap International, the Cambodian Ministry of Health, the Cambodian Red Cross and Red Crescent Society and a number of other partners to promote helmet wearing and provide information to the public in Cambodia. The project has five main activities:

* supporting development of an integrated road traffic injury data system, initially developed for Phnom Penh but has been expanded to the 24 provinces of Cambodia;
* supporting a campaign on helmet wearing;
* collecting data on rates of helmet use in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia;
* supporting the implementation of a recently launched national road safety plan of action; and
* giving input into the creation of a law on the mandatory use of helmets.

The initiative encourages United Nations agencies, government departments and nongovernmental organizations to adopt, enforce and monitor helmet-wearing policies among their staff. A nation-wide media campaign using a television spot is going on in the country to promote the use of helmets among the public.

This is a collaborative project involving a number of agencies, in particular Handicap International, as well as the Cambodian Ministry of Health, and the Cambodian Red Cross and Red Crescent. There is strong political support and commitment to road safety in Cambodia. In June 2006, the Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia chaired an important workshop on the improvement of road safety in Cambodia, organized by the Ministry of Interior and in which WHO and Handicap International participated.

Background and road safety situation

Cambodia has a population of 14.1 million people and a gross domestic product of US$ 6.2 billion. Motorcycles are an important mode of transport in Cambodia. Motorcycle riders and/or their passengers are frequent casualties of road traffic collisions. In Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, about 89% of fatal collisions involve motorcycles and 57% of cases sustained head injuries.

Unfortunately, helmet use is low among the motorcycle users although we know that helmets are effective in preventing head injuries and/or reducing their severity. A ministerial road safety committee has been established in Cambodia to address road safety. A new traffic law was approved by the council of ministers in December 2005.