HA NOI, Vietnam - March 16, 2013

This week a coalition of road safety stakeholders announce the next stage of the national campaign “Children also need a helmet” with a workshop to introduce new activities, including enhanced police enforcement and a call for grant proposals, to local partners in Hanoi.

This is the second phase of a three-year campaign in Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City to increase motorcycle helmet wearing among Vietnamese children, as part of a partnership between the National Traffic Safety Committee, the National Traffic Police, the Ministry of Education and Training, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation.

Following the first phase of campaign activities, helmet use among child motorcycle passengers in Ho Chi Minh City increased significantly, from 22 to 50 percent, as observed around primary schools. However, despite a national traffic law mandating helmet use for drivers and passengers, including children over six, as few as eight percent primary school students wear helmets when travelling by motorcycle on Hanoi’s roads.

AIP Foundation introduced the latest campaign activities at the workshop, including a call for innovative proposals from local partners. This initiative will award grants of $3,000 to two submissions from each city, totaling $18,000. Proposals should outline creative activities to increase child helmet use. Awards will be announced at a family event, promoting the National Road Safety Week, in Hanoi on May 4.

In April, traffic police will set-up dedicated units on main roads and around schools in Hanoi to issue warnings and fine parents based on the traffic law. Enforcement operations will be supported and supplemented by leveraging mass media and social marketing to spread the campaign message through TV, social media, outdoor advertisements, and community events.

The campaign TV commercial will continue airing nationwide, 100 billboards will be installed at primary schools, in public space, and on buses in Hanoi, and a documentary of the stories of victim’s families will be aired.

Local partners, including the Women’s Union, the Hanoi TSC, and the Hanoi Department of Education and Training (DoET), will organize 20 information sessions from March to May 2013, where parents can pledge their commitment to put a helmet on their child every day. Through Facebook and email, the campaign has already collected more than 5,500 pledges.