[sustran] fwd: World Bank must do more to develop safe and sustainable transportation systems

[SUSTRAN Resource Centre]

Dear SUSTRAN Discussers, 
Here is the letter mentioned in the latest SUSTRAN News Flash. ("World Bank
must do more to develop safe and sustainable transportation systems", by
Ian Roberts. BMJ 1999;318 1694.
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7199/1694)
Best wishes,
Paul.
Dr A. Rahman Paul BARTER
Sustainable Transport Action Network 
for Asia and the Pacific (the SUSTRAN Network)
P.O. Box 11501,  Kuala Lumpur 50748, Malaysia.
TEL/FAX: +60 3 2274 2590
E-mail: sustran at po.jaring.my
Web: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2853/

The SUSTRAN Network promotes and popularises people-centred, equitable and
sustainable transport with a focus on Asia and the Pacific.
---------------------------------------

BMJ 1999;318:1694 ( 19 June )

Letters

World Bank must do more to develop safe and sustainable transportation
systems 

EDITOR
In examinations of the World Bank's role in international health its
influence on the
development of transportation systems must not be overlooked.1 Each year
about one
million people die in road traffic accidents, with perhaps 10 million
permanently disabled.2

And for most of the world the epidemic of road deaths and injuries is just
beginning. It is estimated that by 2020 road traffic accidents will be the
third leading cause of disability adjusted life years lost worldwide and
the second leading cause in the
demographically developing countries.3 

The extent of the carnage will depend heavily on the type of transportation
infrastructure the bank promotes. The importance of bank policy on
transportation is underscored by the fact that 13% of lending is for
transportation compared with 11% for
health, nutrition, and population.1 

Close to 80% of the world's cars are owned and produced by the 15% of the
world's population who live in North America, western Europe, and Japan.
The same countries hold the greatest voting power at the bank, which may
not bode well for the development of safe and sustainable transportation
systems. For example, China with its millions of bicycles has one of the
most equitable and sustainable transportation systems on the planet.4 With
European and North American car markets reaching saturation point, however,
car manufacturers are looking east. The epidemic of road deaths in China
has yet to begin, but already an estimated 29 000 children are killed on
the roads each year.2 

The midwife to this new epidemic may well turn out to be the World Bank
itself, by conflating motorisation and development and failing to count the
true cost of car travel. The neglect of road trauma by the World Health
Organisation, and the fact that
global funding for research into road safety is lower than that for almost
any other cause of human misery, will do nothing to help. 

Ian Roberts, Director.  
Child Health Monitoring Unit, 
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, 
Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH
Ian.Roberts at ich.ucl.ac.uk


 1.  Abbasi K. The World Bank and world health: Changing sides. BMJ 1999;
318: 865-869. (27 March.) 
 2.  Murray CJL, Lopez AD. Global health statistics: a compendium of
incidence, prevalence and mortality estimates for over 200 conditions.
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston: Harvard University Press , 1996. 
 3.  Murray CJL, Lopez AD. Alternative projections of mortality and
disability by cause 1990-2020: global burden of disease study. Lancet 1997;
349: 1498-1504 [Medline]. 
 4.  Roberts I. Letter from Chengdu: China takes to the roads. BMJ 1995;
310: 1311-1313. 

© British Medical Journal 1999