The National Health Fund (NHF) has donated $15 million to the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), in support of the 2011 public education campaign.

This current grant brings the total amount provided to the NRSC for public education programmes, since 2005, to approximately $40 million, the NHF said in a release this week.

According to NRSC executive director, Paula Fletcher, the NHF has over the years provided a consistent and significant source of funds for the public education component of the NRSC’s road safety mandate.

“In so doing the NRSC has been able to produce and place multimedia programmes and sponsor special events designed to educate and reinforce messages to achieve positive behaviour change and compliance with road safety laws among road users,” said Fletcher.

NHF CEO, Hugh Lawson, emphasised that his agency’s mission is to reduce the burden of health care costs in Jamaica and the support provided to the NRSC is aimed at reducing traffic crashes on the nation’s roads. These crashes, he said, resulted in high levels of death and disability and grave socio-economic impact, including burdensome hospital costs.

“We have noted the declining trend of road deaths and we have to continue our support of the NRSC so this trend can continue,” declared Lawson.

Fletcher contended that traffic crashes were not inevitable. “They can and should be prevented and through the public education component, largely funded by the NHF, we have engaged the public at large, as well as the media, and elevated road safety promotion high on the national agenda,’ she said.

Fletcher added that public education was a major component of the road safety promotion equation as outlined in the National Road Safety Policy and the Save 300 lives Project, chaired by prime minister Bruce Golding, which is currently being implemented.

NRSC has not achieved its goal of reduce fatalities below 300 since the start of the Save 300 project in 2007.

In the meantime, 18 people have died in 11 fatal motor vehicle crashes since the start of the year. This compares to 22 deaths from 21 crashes over the same period in 2010.

According to the Road Safety Unit, pedestrians account for half of the 18 fatalities, keeping in focus the high ratio from last year.

116 pedestrians were killed from a total 310 fatalities in 2010.