Heads of agencies, experts, and stakeholders on road safety pledge their support in developing new and effective solutions to improve the safety and well-being of road users in the country.

“People always count deaths. But we count even the injuries and disabilities which are a bigger burden because these are permanent, life long, and affect families and communities.”

April 11, 2023 — The University of the Philippines Manila National Institutes of Health (NIH) has called for an interagency collaboration that will establish the Road Safety and Injury Prevention Institute (RSIPI)—a policy and research center that will consolidate and analyze data from all government agencies and mobilize collective action among involved agencies.

During the consultative meeting on 29 March 2023, UP President Angelo Jimenez reported that around 57,179 road crashes were recorded by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority in 2022. 

“This is an average of 157 cases daily, but what is officially recorded is probably just the tip of the iceberg,” he stated.

As President Jimenez further explained, motor vehicle crashes are also notoriously underreported; resulting in fatalities, injuries, or sustained disabilities to which the impact could not be ignored.

“Consider the impact on the healthcare system: the additional strain on the already limited resources. By reducing the number of accidents, we reduce the burden on the healthcare system and ensure more resources for other health priorities,” President Jimenez said.

The Road Safety and Injury Prevention Institute

“People always count deaths,” said Dr. Ted Herbosa, Trauma Surgery and Disaster and Emergency Medicine expert. “But we count even the injuries and disabilities which are a bigger burden because these are permanent, life long, and affect families and communities.”

Dr. Ted Herbosa and Dr. Jinky Leilani Lu, the proponents of the Road Safety Project, saw that several organizations already have initiatives in place to enhance road safety. These efforts had to be coordinated across sectors, disciplines, and geographies to address the complex challenges of road safety and injury prevention.

Dr. Herbosa saw the RSIPI as a sandbox that would bridge ideas, resources, and information across agencies. “All the agencies can collaborate with UP, like a sandbox where everyone can play a role in road safety.”

The five-pillar framework will serve as a guiding principle for the Interagency Collaboration on Road Safety and Injury Prevention.

Dr. Lu, Research Professor at the National Institutes of Health, presented the research data that led her and Dr. Herbosa to push for the RSIPI. “It will mainly be a policy and research resource institute that will not compete with you but rather complement what you already have.”

The RSIPI will be co-spearheaded by different collaborators from the national government agencies, health sector, hospitals, the academe, international organizations, and the private sector. Having a mutually shared database, critical insights and evidence-based strategies will be formulated, and the most effective interventions to address the challenges in road safety and injury prevention in the country will be identified.

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Expressing similar ideas, UP President Angelo Jimenez commits to see this institute be known as an important resource in the country that will compel the government to invest in necessary systems and technology to support road safety management.

“By then, we shall be able to deliver our commitment to the UN Global Action for Road Safety and more so, deliver our promises to the Filipino people for safer roads,” Dr. Lu said.

In attendance during the Interagency Collaboration that signed the commitment paper were national government agencies (Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Transportation, Department of Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, Metro Manila Development Authority, Land Transportation Office Metro Manila, Land Transportation Office Cebu, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board); major trauma hospitals in Metro Manila (Philippine General Hospital, Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Philippine Orthopedic Center), Cebu Region (Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center), and Davao Region (Southern Philippines Medical Center, Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office); LGU, Professional Trauma Organizations, Policy Centers, UP National Center for Transportation Studies, industries; and other stakeholders.

Anne Marie Alto