Aug 23 2012
The Guardian examines road safety in Bangladesh, writing, "Road crashes disproportionately affect poor families, and cost Bangladesh almost as much as it receives in foreign aid." "More than 4,000 people die on Bangladesh's roads every year," the news service writes, adding, "The country has one of the highest rates in the world, with more than 85 deaths for every 10,000 registered motor vehicles ..., around 50 times higher than the rate in most western countries."
"According to the World Health Organization (WHO), road traffic injuries cause a loss of about two percent of GDP in Bangladesh, or about £1.2 billion [$1.89 billion] annually," the Guardian writes. "This is almost equal to the total foreign aid received in a fiscal year," the news service notes, adding, "The losses include direct and indirect expenses, such as medical costs, insurance loss, property damage, family income losses and traffic congestion." According to the news service, "Bangladesh is trying to modernize its road network, but population and commerce continue to outpace transport infrastructure, turning roads -- devoid of proper safety measures -- into death traps" (Al-Mahmood, 8/22).
 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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