What is World Health Day? World Health Day is celebrated annually on the 7th of April. It is the start of a year long programme of activities on a key theme. The theme for World Health Day 2004 is ‘Safe Roads’. On this day around the globe, hundreds of organisations will host events to help raise awareness about traffic injuries and their enormous costs to society.

7 April marks the start of a year long campaign of activity which will raise awareness about this issue which may help to prevent such accidents.

MEAS will be playing its part in supporting World Health Day and the theme of Safe Roads. Why a Safe Roads Theme? According to the World Health Organisation, road traffic injuries take the lives of 1.2 million men, women and children around the world each year.

Hundreds of thousands more are injured on our roads, some of whom become permanently disabled.

96 people have been killed to date on Irish roads in 2004, a 30% increase on 2003 figures. This increase in fatalities suggests that the initial impact of the penalty points, first introduced in October 2002, has worn off. In total, 4,705 people have been killed on Irish roads since January 1993, with 115,751 injured (See Chart). MEAS Initiatives aimed at Tackling Drink-Driving MEAS is providing year long support for the World Health Day theme of Safe Roads through it’s Designated Driver Campaign. This involves initiatives aimed at reducing drink driving, an issue which is known to cause road traffic accidents and fatalities. The MEAS Campaign has a three-fold purpose:

• To encourage people to consider their own safety and the safety of others on the road
• To raise awareness of responsible drinking behaviour, and
• To promote the responsible service of alcohol on licensed premises

The Campaign fits within a broader framework of initiatives being undertaken by MEAS with industry bodies, and with other bodies beyond the industry. Particularly relevant is the Responsible Serving of Alcohol Programme supported by MEAS and the Department of Health and children and delivered by Fáilte Ireland. The Campaign is supported by the Gardaí, the National Safety Council, and the Automobile Association.

It is common knowledge that drinking anything more than a very modest amount of alcohol before driving slows down reaction times and can lead to accidents. MEAS has, therefore, a clear position on drink-driving. Our advice to anyone who is going out for the evening and who wishes to drink is to make an arrangement that means they do not have to drive home.

‘Drive Straight and Designate’ is the theme of the MEAS Designated Driver Campaign which commenced in December, 2003 and continues throughout 2004. It encourages the public to designate one member of a group as the non drinking driver who will take responsibility for driving the group home safely – or- to make an arrangement for alternative transport home. With a bit of forward planning and a sharing of responsibility for safe driving, lives can be saved and injuries avoided.

MEAS believes that the most effective way to ensure a consistent decline in drink-driving accidents or fatalities is to combine long term education initiatives with tough enforcement and strict penalties. MEAS’s supports the call of the National Safety Council and Automobile Association for the establishment of a dedicated Garda Traffic Corps to support fuller and more consistent enforcement of our Road Traffic Laws.