HO CHI MINH City, Vietnam - March 31, 2014

Helmets for Families, a new road safety education project, sponsored by the global healthcare company Abbott Laboratories, and based on the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation’s proven school-based program Helmets for Kids, launched in Ho Chi Minh City on March 28. The project commenced with a stakeholder orientation workshop attended by Alvin Yap, Finance Director of Abbott Laboratories, government partners, including National Traffic Safety Committee, Ministry of Education and Training, Ho Chi Minh Traffic Safety Committee and Department of Education and Training, local authorities, traffic police, and project school principals and teachers. All participants are collaborating on Helmets for Families to raise awareness among students and parents of the safety value of helmets that meet the national standard.

By partnering with road safety stakeholders and donating free and subsidized helmets, as well as exchanging parents’ substandard helmets for new standard helmets, Abbott Laboratories and AIP Foundation hope to change behavior among students and parents and to increase standard helmet wearing rates. In the 2013-14 school year, the program is being piloted at four primary schools in Binh Chanh District and District 12 of Ho Chi Minh City. In the next two years, Helmets for Families will be expanded to areas of the Mekong Delta and Hanoi.