For this review we identified studies from electronic databases (Cochrane databases, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL), and by hand-searching peer-reviewed journals in the injury field (in particular, Injury Prevention, Injury, Journal of Trauma, Accident Analysis and Prevention, Injury Control and Safety Promotion, and Traffic Injury Prevention). We also found relevant studies in the 2004 world report on road-traffic injury prevention, in bibliographies of content-specific articles and
ReviewRoad-traffic injuries: confronting disparities to address a global-health problem
Section snippets
Current estimates of the global burden
The 2004 world report1 used information from a range of sources, including the WHO mortality database and global burden of disease estimates, the World Bank,3 the transport research laboratory,11 and specific studies identified through electronic databases, websites, organisations, and individuals.
In 2002, road-traffic injuries ranked as the 11th leading cause of death in the world. The aggregate rates of road-traffic fatality per 100 000 population were lowest in high-income countries in the
Prevention of road-traffic injuries: a global evidence-based perspective
As highlighted in the previous section, despite the absence of reliable and valid information about the incidence of road-traffic injuries, there can be no doubt that the health burden will grow in the next few years, mostly in low-income and middle-income countries. Although the continued rise in motorisation in these countries suggests a degree of inevitability, many high-income countries have had great successes in reducing the incidence of road-traffic injuries in past decades despite
Conclusions
Motorisation has enhanced the lives of many individuals and societies. However, the benefits have come with a price. Although the numbers of lives lost in road crashes in high-income countries indicate a downward trend in recent decades, for most of the world's population, the burden of road-traffic injury—in terms of societal and economic costs—is rising substantially.
The best available evidence suggests the burden is greatest and growing in low-income and middle-income countries—but estimates
Search strategy and selection criteria
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