Road traffic injuries are a major public health problem in Malaysia. They remain a leading cause of death, disability and admissions to hospitals. The economic loss due to road traffic crashes amounts to about 1-2% of a country’s GDP, according to data from international health agencies. Malaysia has one of the highest rates of road traffic deaths per 100,000 population according to the WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety. The health sector has a crucial role to play in the prevention of road traffic injuries, in addition to its established role in the management of injuries. The health sector can contribute through advocacy, data collection, public education and research. In recent years, multiple diligent measures taken by the government are insufficient to curb the increasing rate of road crashes and their consequences. A hybrid seminar on Road Traffic Injury Prevention was organised jointly by the MMA Injury Prevention Committee and the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya on 11 May 2023 to strengthen the contribution of the health sector to road safety.
The seminar consisted of six talks followed by forum sessions hosted by Prof Dr Krishnan Rajah and Prof Dr Victor Hoe. The talks are “Policy issues in Road Safety” given by Prof Dr Krishnan Rajah the Chairman of the MMA Injury Prevention Committee and Former Technical Officer, Injury & Violence Prevention, World Health Organization (WHO), “Magnitude of Road Traffic Injuries in Malaysia” by IR TS Sharifah Allyana, Research Officer from Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), “Advocating for Road Safety in Children” by Dato Dr Amar-Singh HSS, Consultant Paediatrician and Advisor to the National Early Childhood Intervention Council (NECC), “Commuting Crashes” by Mr Harun Bakar, Head of Prevention Department, Social Security Organization who replaces Dr Azlan Darus, “Trauma Management in Primary Care Setting” by Dr Ahmad Asraff Azman, Emergency Physician at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, and “Fitness to Drive for Commercial Fleets” by Prof Dr Victor Hoe, Head of Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and Professor of Occupational and Public Health.
There were more than 100 participants who attended the seminar, and most of them attended virtually through Zoom. The participants consisted of general practitioners, medical specialists, and postgraduate medical students.
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