Hanoi works to have more children wearing helmet
Hanoi has increased the rate
of children wearing helmets when riding motorbikes from 9.1 percent to
52.9 percent thanks to the “Children also need a helmet” campaign
initiated in 2011.
“Children also need a helmet” is a national
campaign launched by the National Traffic Committee, the Ministry of
Education and Training and the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIP).
Hoang
Na Huong, Deputy Executive Director of AIP Foundation said that the
campaign is to improve the rate of helmet use among children, correct
parents’ misconceptions about helmet use among children, and increase
awareness around road safety issues with the ultimate goal of reducing
the number of traffic crash injuries and fatalities.
The public
awareness activities of the campaign had a strong impact on perceptions
of parents. Many parents became aware of the importance of child helmet
use and demonstrated safer road behaviour, she stressed.
In phase
III of the campaign, which runs from September to December this year,
the AIP foundation will continue to work with relevant Vietnamese
agencies to implement various communication activities in order to
increase the child helmet use rate to 80 percent.
The TV
commercial “When I grow up” and documentary “In Retrospect” will
continue to be broadcast on national and local media outlets. The AIP
foundation will replace old billboards to encourage helmet use among
children in the city and will install 68 new panels in primary schools,
public places, and on buses.
The audio broadcasting will be
conducted in front of school gates. Meanwhile, other public awareness
activities including a photo contest and online pledge drive will be
implemented.
According to Nguyen Hiep Thong, Deputy Director of
the Hanoi Department of Education, the department will coordinate with
AIP Foundation and relevant agencies to educate parents through family
days, information sessions, and audio broadcasting in schools.
It
will direct schools to encourage elementary students to get into the
habit of regular helmet use, as well as arm them with valuable road
safety information from an early age, he said.-VNA