Who we are

What are the goals of Asia Injury Prevention Foundation?

Our goal is to stop the escalating number of people dying or being injured in road accidents in Southeast Asia through direct intervention in three areas:

• Providing access to high quality affordable motorbike helmets
• Creating public awareness and education programs
• Providing advocacy and information to governments considering changes to existing helmet and road safety laws

Why focus on road accidents?

Road accidents are among the fastest growing causes of sudden death and disability in the developing world. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2020, road accidents will be the world’s third leading cause of premature death for all ages. They not only lead to thousands of preventable deaths and injuries each year, but they jeopardize public health systems in the world's poorest nations, raising to poverty rates and limiting the ability of healthcare systems to focus on other crises. Among children, road accidents are one of the leading causes of death overall. As incomes rise and more families can afford to trade bicycles for motorbikes, the number of accidents is soaring. Children are the most vulnerable passengers and most at risk of death or injury. 

Why Asia?

Asia is where the problem is the worst – on the verge of becoming an epidemic. Already, 44% of the world’s road deaths occur in Asia. Motorbike usage has been on the rise as global trends have been lifting average incomes in Asia. Greater usage means more crashes that strain already overburdened health systems and add to poverty rates. We are targeting the countries that have the most road accidents: Vietnam, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.

Why not focus on HIV or other major killers?

World attention is already focused on many of the world’s leading killers. But comparatively little effort is focused on reducing road accidents, where the ability to save lives is immediate and dramatic. Through low-tech efforts such as education programs and helmet donations, we can have a powerful impact. Thus far, AIDS impacts a certain sector of Asian societies; road death is indiscriminate and universal, as well as easily preventable.  

Will it work?

In the targeted countries, rapid economic development is just beginning. We have a real chance to lay the groundwork to save thousands of lives in a short span of time. Over the past ten years Asia Injury Prevention Foundation has made great strides in improving traffic safety in Vietnam. These improvements can be seen on many levels. The Vietnamese government, because of increased international awareness of road safety, is now actively addressing the issue of traffic safety as evidenced by the revision of helmet standards, adopting much of AIP Foundation’s Traffic Safety Education curriculum and the Vietnamese mandatory helmet law, for which AIP Foundation was the primary lobby force, came into effect in 2007. Although progress is encouraging, there is still a long way to go. With the help of government bodies, nonprofit organizations, and corporate sponsors, AIP Foundation can build upon those gains, providing a safer environment for all to live.