The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access originally published online on November 24, 2006
The European Journal of Public Health 2007 17(1):112; doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckl258
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Letter to the Editor |
Road traffic injuries in a two-speed Europe
Constantinos Mihas1, Angeliki Arapaki1, Assimina Baltouka2, Alevizos Alevizos1 and Anargiros Mariolis1
1 Health Center of Vyronas Athens, Greece
2 Assimina Baltouka, Evaggelismos Hospital, Radiology Department Athens, Greece
Correspondence: Constantinos Mihas MD MSc, Health Center of Vyronas. 3 Korytsas strasse, 16231 Athens, Greece, tel: +30 2107608051, fax: +30 2107608053, e-mail: gas521{at}yahoo.co.uk
Road traffic injuries in a two-speed Europe
Sir,
On the occasion of the car-free day, the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) released some interesting data regarding passenger cars and road accident deaths in the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries.1
According to those statistics, more than 43 000 European citizens died as a result of road accidents in 2004. Despite the fact that the mortality rate has significantly decreased (from 162 deaths per million inhabitants in 1991 to 95 deaths in the EU25 in 2004), these results are far less encouraging, if one considers that which is happening in the 10 new member states which acceded in 2004 (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, and Slovakia). With the exception of Malta, the remaining nine countries report a mortality rate that is higher than the EU25 adjusted mean.
Coming, as we do, from a country where road traffic injuries (RTI) are responsible for 1.7% of total deaths and, indeed, the leading cause of death in ages <35,2 we would like to dwell on the impact of the problem in the European Union (EU) after its enlargement in 2004. Nowadays, mortality from RTI is up to six times greater in the countries with the highest rates than in those with the lowest. Lithuania, Latvia and Greece report the highest such rates compared to the lowest rates in Malta and the Netherlands (standardized death rate [SDR] per 100 000 for 2004: 21.47, 19.19, 14.56 compared with 3.36 and 4.69, respectively).3
Even though the deaths from RTI in the 10 new EU members have declined by 8.51% during the years 2000–2003, the mean SDR per 100 000 in these countries is still higher (13.65%) than in EU members before 2004 (9.5%), possibly reflecting the income difference which is observed between the former and the latter,3 as well as, the relationship between RTI and development.4
RTI should be considered as a major public health concern, not only because of the human cost involved but also on account of the significant healthcare financial implications.5 Although there is a marked improvement of the injury and mortality rates, this is mainly attributed to the targeted efforts of higher-income countries, which have implemented successful intervention programs.6 Regrettably, the new EU member states still have a long way to go before they confront this problem.
Acknowledgments
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
References
1 European Commission. Eurostat. Transport. Nearly one car per two inhabitants in the EU25 in 2004. Available from: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/pls/portal/url/page/SHARED/PER_TRANSP (last accessed on 21 September 2006).
2 General secretariat of national statistical service of Greece. Athens. Statistical Data—Vital Statistics of Greece—Deaths. Deaths in Greece during 2003, by age and cause. Available from: http://www.statistics.gr/eng_tables/S200_SPO_4_TB_AN_03_15_Y_EN.pdf (last accessed on 21 September 2006).
3 World Health Organization. Regional office for Europe. European Mortality Database. [Updated Jan 2006]. Available from: http://data.euro.who.int/hfamdb/ (last accessed on 21 September 2006).
4 Garg N and Hyder AA. (2006) Exploring the relationship between development and road traffic injuries: a case study from India. Eur J Public Health 16:487–91.
5 Meerding WJ, Mulder S, van Beeck EF. (2006) Incidence and costs of injuries in The Netherlands. Eur J Public Health 16:272–8.
6 Ameratunga S, Hijar M, Norton R. (2006) Road-traffic injuries: confronting disparities to address a global-health problem. Lancet 367:1533–40.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
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