Recently at the Safe Helmets for Asia Pacific (SHAP) Summit in Ha Noi, the World Health Organization called for stronger action to protect lives on the roads. Every minute, someone dies in a road crash across the South‑East Asia and Western Pacific Regions. But most of these 630,000 deaths a year - many of them among children and young people - are entirely preventable. A quality helmet, worn correctly, can save a life. But to make that happen, we need strong standards and strict testing, removal of fake and substandard helmets, and mandatory helmet use for everyone, including children. Viet Nam has already shown what is possible: the 2007 helmet law saved around 2,200 lives in its first year alone. Now is the time to protect and build on that achievement. WHO is committed to working with the Government and partners to ensure every child and every family is safe on the road. Read the speech by WHO Representative in Viet Nam Dr Angela Pratt here: who.int/.../speech-of-dr-ang…...