Viet Nam Injury Prevention Partnership at the 2010 Safety World Conference – London

London, England – The Safety 2010 World Conference which took place on 21-24th September, showcased many contributions from the Viet Nam Injury Prevention Partnership, an informal group of collaborators and stakeholders addressing injury prevention in Viet Nam.

The Goal of the Conference

The Conference aimed to bring together a range of stakeholders including practitioners, researchers and policy makers from around the world from health, criminal justice, education, public administration and industry to debate, discuss and exchange information and experiences on the prevention of unintentional injuries and violence. The key theme of the conference was “Safe and Equitable Communities”, chosen to reflect the burden of almost all types of injuries that fall disproportionately on poorer and more disadvantaged communities within countries, between countries and between global regions.

 

Viet Nam Injury Prevention Partnership

An informal grouping of collaborators and stakeholders, the Injury Prevention Partnership in Viet Nam includes  Government agencies – the Ministry of Health ( http://www.moh.gov.vn/web/guest/home) and Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (http://www.molisa.gov.vn/), Research Institutions and Universities – Ha Noi School of Public Health (http://www.hsph.edu.vn ), Hue Medical School (http://www.huemed-univ.edu.vn ), the international agencies  -United Nations Children Fund (http://www.unicef.org/vietnam/), World Health Organization (http://www.wpro.who.int/) and Non-Government Organisation – Asia Injury Prevention Foundation(http://www.asiainjury.org/main/home.html).

Members of the partnership have been collaborating for more than ten years to address injury prevention in Viet Nam. Priority areas of action have included:

• Supporting development and implementation of good practice policies and programs  (e.g. advocacy for motorcycle helmet  wearing legislation,
• Support research and systematic studies to provide evidence for policy and advocacy work (e.g child head trauma related to helmet wearing…);
• Public education and communication to raise Government and public awareness to support enforcement of regulations and legislations designed for injury prevention (e.g. child helmet, drink-driving and drowning prevention legislation);
• Supporting environmental modifications that contribute to the models on safe homes, safe schools and safe communities.

 

 

At Safety 2010 World Conference, the Partnership participated in the associated Exhibition, being the only country to utilise the opportunity to highlight collaborative action and achievements in injury prevention.

 

 

Presentations by Vietnamese participants

Drink -driving: perception and risks, Nguyen Minh Tam, Hue Medical School

Health care response to domestic violence in Viet Nam: Lessons learnt from interventions and policy implications, Le Thi Phuong Mai, United Nation’s Population Fund (UNFPA) Viet Nam

Motorcycle helmet usage to improve road traffic safety in Viet Nam, Trinh Thuy Anh, Ho Chi Minh City’s Open University

Occupational injuries in Viet Nam and prevention activities, Nguyen Mai Anh, Environmental Health Management Administration, Ministry of Health

Road safety for Xe-om drivers in Hoa An Bus Station, Da Nang City, Viet Nam, (presented by ) Nguyen Phuong Nam, World Health Organization (WHO) Viet Nam

Working together to make a difference in child injury prevention in Viet Nam, Nguyen Thi Thanh An, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Viet Nam

 

Follow up after the Safety 2010 World Conference

The partnership will continue to collaborate throughout 2010 and 2011 including:

Viet Nam National Injury Survey, 2010

• Promotion for child helmet wearing including evaluation of the impact of May 20 legislation
• Child drowning prevention
• Promotion and support to national partners to implement the “Decade of Action for Road Safety” 2011-2020

The partnership will continue to host regular working group meetings to share and exchange information and knowledge about injury prevention to promote effective synergies.

 

The Viet Nam Injury Prevention Partnership is an Atlantic grantee.