ROTORUA, New Zealand - April 11, 2019

Our policy and program advisor, Louise Goldman presented at the IUHPE 23rd World Conference on Health Promotion in Rotorua, New Zealand. The theme of the conference was Promoting Planetary Health and Sustainable Development for All and was attended by more than 1,000 delegates from around the globe discussing a range of public health issues and ways to promote and improve health and well-being among populations.

As part of a symposium, “The Importance of Traffic Injury Prevention to Promote Health and Safety:  Policies and Practice Around the Globe,” Louise shared the achievements and learnings from Vietnam’s experience in the lead up to, and following the implementation of a nation-wide helmet law and the health and policy promotion efforts since. The presentation focused on our publication Head First: A Case Study of Vietnam’s Motorcycle Helmet Campaign, a collaborative work between the AIP Foundation and the FIA Foundation, which estimates that in the decade following the implementation of Vietnam’s helmet-use legislation and successful public health promotion campaigns, 15,000 lives and $3.5 billion USD have been saved due to increased helmet use.

The conference was an opportunity to connect with others in the health promotion and injury prevention fields to discuss and share best practice approaches from around the globe that can be applied to promote road safety among vulnerable populations everywhere.

Louise co-presented along with three other delegates who are also working to address the global burden of road traffic deaths and injuries including Dr. Carol Phillips-Cotton (Director of Traffic Safety Research and Evaluation Group, University of Georgia and Program Director of the Croatia Public Health Study Abroad program), Dr. William Potts-Datema (Chief of the Program Development and Services Branch of the CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health, US CDC), and Professor Rob Simmons (retired professor of public health, Thomas Jefferson University, USA.