Monitoring road safety progress in Europe requires the best data
Authors: Yongjie Yon, Jonathon Passmore, Ivo Rakovac, Kacem Iaych, Doris Ma Fat, Elena Yurasova, Melita Vujnovic, Anastasiya Pyankova, Timur Fattakhov, Bente Mikkelsen
Journal: The Lancet Public Health (2020)

Road traffic injuries are a major public health problem.1WHOHealth statistics and information systems: global health estimates. World Health Organization, Geneva2016https://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/enDate accessed: March 4, 2020Google Scholar The UN mandates WHO to monitor road safety through a series of Global Status Report on Road Safety. In the 2018 edition of the global status report, WHO generated estimates on road traffic fatalities for all its member states on the basis of data from 2016.2WHOGlobal Status Report on road safety 2018. World Health Organization, GenevaJune 17, 2018https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2018/enDate accessed: February 11, 2020Google Scholar To enable international comparisons and application of standardised methods, in the 2019 report,3WHOEuropean regional status report on road safety 2019. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, CopenhagenApril 30, 2020http://www.euro.who.int/en/roadsafetyreport2019Date accessed: April 30, 2020Google Scholar countries were grouped into four categories: countries with eligible vital registration data for cause of death (group 1); countries with other sources of data for cause of death (group 2); small population (group 3); and countries without eligible vital registration data on cause of death (group 4). The method applied to group 1 considers several factors: latest available vital registration data and their completeness, level of detail in the International Classification of Disease codes4WHOInternational Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.10th edn. World Health Organization, Geneva2016https://icd.who.int/browse10/2016/enDate accessed: March 4, 2020Google Scholar to identify road traffic deaths, and proportion of deaths coded as “injuries from event of undetermined intent”. Although no adjustments were applied to group 3, regression modelling was applied for groups 2 and 4. Details of the covariates used for the regression model are explained elsewhere.2WHOGlobal Status Report on road safety 2018. World Health Organization, GenevaJune 17, 2018https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2018/enDate accessed: February 11, 2020Google Scholar, 3WHOEuropean regional status report on road safety 2019. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, CopenhagenApril 30, 2020http://www.euro.who.int/en/roadsafetyreport2019Date accessed: April 30, 2020Google Scholar As an example, following the release of the global status report, Russia (group 1) hosted several consultations involving all relevant ministries, agencies, and leading national scientific institutions on road traffic injuries to review WHO's national estimate on road traffic deaths. Through these consultations, comprehensive vital registration data were released for 2016. The new estimates that were generated were 19% lower than originally calculated and were in line with official data reported by the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation, which were also published in the global status report.2WHOGlobal Status Report on road safety 2018. World Health Organization, GenevaJune 17, 2018https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2018/enDate accessed: February 11, 2020Google Scholar, 3WHOEuropean regional status report on road safety 2019. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, CopenhagenApril 30, 2020http://www.euro.who.int/en/roadsafetyreport2019Date accessed: April 30, 2020Google Scholar With close to 90% of countries in the WHO European region belonging to group 1, key messages for member states are that comprehensive data classified to detailed International Classification of Diseases 10th edition codes should be shared in a timely manner and that death certification and coding practices should be aligned to International Classification of Diseases recommendations. Implementing these recommendations will improve ability to monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal 3.6: “halve the number of road traffic death and injuries”.5UNTransforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. United Nations Organization, New York2015https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworldDate accessed: February 11, 2020Google Scholar WHO stands ready to support member states to strengthen coordination between sectoral data systems and facilitate an informed approach that includes the whole of government and the whole of society to policy making for road safety. This online publication has been corrected. The corrected version first appeared at thelancet. com/public-health on August 5, 2020 This online publication has been corrected. The corrected version first appeared at thelancet. com/public-health on August 5, 2020 We declare no competing interests. Correction to Lancet Public Health 2020; 5: e421Yon Y, Passmore J, Rakovac I, et al. Monitoring road safety progress in Europe requires the best data. Lancet Public Health 2020; 5: e421—In this Correspondence, the declaration of interests statement was omitted and should read “We declare no competing interests”. This correction has been made as of Aug 5, 2020. Full-Text PDF Open Access