Today, AIP Foundation held its first ever helmet handover ceremony at School No. 19 at Aung Myae Thar San Township, in the Mandalay region of Myanmar, introducing the first in a series of helmet donations to students and teachers across the Mandalay region. These donations follow shortly after a series of teacher trainings wherein 100 teachers from four target schools were equipped with basic road safety knowledge, correct helmet use demonstrations, promotional techniques, and suggestions for class lessons. AIP Foundation’s first road safety education and helmet donation campaign in Myanmar was developed through the Safety Delivered program, which is supported by The UPS Foundation. Safety Delivered plans to bring road safety education and a total of 3,000 helmets to students and teachers Mandalay by December 2018.

Road traffic crashes continue to be one of the most fatal and costly public health problems in Myanmar, causing 17,384 crashes in 2016 that resulted in 4,887 deaths and 27,763 injuries, with motorcyclists make up the majority of fatalities at 44%. Although helmets are legally mandatory in Myanmar, helmet use among child motorcycles passengers remains very low. Approximately 90% of students at School No. 19 were observed riding a motorcycle as a passenger during pre-intervention observations, but less than 1% of those students were observed wearing a helmet. Helmets are proven to reduce the risk of death by 42% and serious injury by 69% in the event of a crash, highlighting the need for education and access to helmets at such a high-risk school.

“We are very excited to take on the road safety challenge in Mandalay, Myanmar for the first time in AIP Foundation’s history. While the majority of drivers wear helmets on Myanmar’s roads, passenger helmet rates particularly those of children going to school, remain quite low,” said Greig Craft, President and Founder of AIP Foundation. “UPS support, combined with public awareness education puts helmets directly on the children who need them most.”

In the next few weeks, AIP Foundation is expected to provide helmets to three other high-risk schools throughout the Mandalay Region. These schools were surveyed and selected by the Mandalay Region Education Office and AIP Foundation in December 2017.

Please see more photos from the event here

Please read the press release here