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
