HO CHI MINH City, Vietnam - May 18, 2018

AIP Foundation’s Helmets for Families program emphasized the importance of road safety for children by hosting the “Children Have Fun With Road Safety” festival at Tan PhuTrung Primary School in the Cu Chi District of Ho Chi Minh City. This is the fifth year that Helmets for Families, supported by the global healthcare company Abbott and in partnership with the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC), Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), and local traffic authorities, is being implemented to encourage quality helmet use among students and their parents.

Over 1,100 children attended the festival, which included road safety games, performances, and helmet-wearing demonstrations to reinforce previous road safety interventions by AIP Foundation at program schools. In addition to games and performances, a doctor from Cho Ray Hospital spoke to students about the importance of wearing quality helmets.

This year’s program aims to engage school staff, parents, and students on a deeper level by collaborating with health professionals to convey key road safety messages based on their experiences working with road crash victims. Six billboards were posted around focus areas, and more than 15,000 Helmets for Families handheld fans were distributed to parents from six program primary schools as well as to patients at Cu Chi, Hoc Mon District, and Cho Ray Hospitals. In previous years, parents and teachers visited Cho Ray Hospital to see firsthand the consequences of unsafe helmet use and speak with health professionals.