The incidence of serious injuries in Pakistan is reported at 41.2 per 1000 persons every year. Around 36 percent transport-related accidents are the most common cause of such injuries. Whereas around 28 percent occurred due to exposure to mechanical devices and 23 percent cases were reported as intentional self-harm, interpersonal violence and burns.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan (CPSP) disclosed this in a study "Road Traffic Injuries in South Asia", conducted in December 2004 in collaboration with the "Global forum for health research" and "Road traffic injuries research network".
Road traffic injuries (RTI) are a source of social concern throughout the world and it has been estimated that, on any given day, more than 3,000 people die from a road traffic injury around the world.
It has been projected that between the years 2000 and 2020, road traffic deaths will decline by 30 percent in high-income countries but will increase substantially in low and middle-income countries and all South Asian countries are still in low-income group.
Road traffic injuries, generally affect males in the productive age group of 15 to 44 years and children between 18 months to four years.
KARACHI DATA: The data of "Karachi Traffic Police" showed that pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists were injured or killed by heavy transport vehicles in over half the crashes.
Road traffic mortality is the major health concerns for all counties and globally road traffic crashes rate is 19 per 100,000 population.
Around 238,000 people die in road crashes every year in South Asian countries. However, no information on road traffic injuries in South Asian countries is available to estimate the magnitude of the problem.
Every year, 1.2 million people die in road traffic crashes and millions of other live on with varying degree of disability.
Most of the fatal road crashes take place in low-income countries, where a large proportion of people is a vulnerable road user.
The study concludes main reasons for high burden of road traffic injuries in South Asian region are growth of motor vehicles, poor enforcement of traffic safety regulations, poor quality of roads and vehicles and inadequate public health infrastructures.