Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.

The Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 is historic opportunity for global action which could save millions of lives across the ten-year period. The vision is a world with safe mobility for all road users. Road traffic injuries have substantial contribution to the disease burden in the Republic of Macedonia as well as in the world. Their prevention is set as Government priority in the National Strategy for Road Safety in the Republic of Macedonia 2009-2014 which main objective is to reduce the number of road traffic injuries by 50% until 2014 and to have zero fatal child injuries. Evaluation of the implementation of the National Strategy has been done in correlation with the Decade applying the "safe system" approach as guiding principle. The Government is committed to implement the activities of the Decade’s five “pillars”: road safety management, safe roads and mobility, safer vehicles, safe road users and postcrash response, in the national policy. The Strategy action plan has concrete action plans for each sector: transport and communication, national roads, interior, health and education. A range of activities have been achieved in each sector as well as joint activities. The main achievements are: institutionalization of activities through establishment of the National Coordination Body and partnerships at national and local levels among relevant stakeholders. The effects of all undertaken activities resulted with decreased mortality rate from road traffic injuries especially among children at age 0 -14 significantly reduced to 0.82 per 100 000 in 2009, which is in line with the main Strategy goal – zero fatal injuries among children by 2014. This reflects the high intervention effectiveness score for road traffic injuries in Macedonia of 94% much higher than the Regional median score of 81%. Further priority for all partners in the Decade should be: commitment for full implementation of the National Strategy and action plans, strengthening capacity to address injuries, promotion of road safety and behavioural change of vulnerable road users, promoting evidence based approaches for injury prevention and trauma care.