The World Health Organization (WHO) in the Western Pacific Region, which includes the Philippines, has called for greater and more targeted action to protect “the most vulnerable of all road users”—pedestrians.
Filipino pedestrians know exactly what the regional WHO office means when it describes them as vulnerable. Every day they risk life and limb negotiating Philippine roads, particularly those in Metro Manila and other urban centers. While motorists in other countries will give way even to jaywalkers, here they seem to consider pedestrians an annoying and inconvenient obstacle to their unimpeded use of streets.
Many probably think pedestrians should not be allowed on the road at all.
And authorities seem to agree with them, adopting policies that focus primarily on making life easier for motorists, with very little regard for other road users.
As Dr. Shin Young-soo, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, points out, “Around the world, the needs of motorized transport are often favored without regard for the impact on people. The unacceptably high pedestrian death toll is testimony to this fact.”
In calling for greater protection for pedestrians, WHO says, “each year, in the region’s 37 countries and areas, more than 85,000 pedestrians lose their lives on roads. This accounts for a quarter of all road traffic-related fatalities in the region.”
Shin says making roads safer for pedestrians should be everyone’s concern. “At some point in each day, virtually everyone is a pedestrian. Therefore, everybody has a personal stake in making the roads safer for pedestrians. Whether one’s destination is work, school or market, or whether one simply wants recreation, walking should be a safe and non-threatening activity,” he says.
He is right, of course. Motorists cannot stay in their cars 24/7. Sometime during the day, they will have to walk somewhere even if it is just a short distance. So it is to their own interest, as well, to help make sure streets are safe for walking.
WHO’s call for greater safety for pedestrians was issued as the world marked the Second United Nations Global Road Safety Week. This year’s theme is “Make Walking Safe.”
Shin calls for new thinking and approaches that place the safety of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users at the heart of urban development.
In the Philippines, we should start by making sure that people who are issued driver’s licenses are competent and know traffic rules thoroughly.
Not just aesthetic
Speaking of walking, it appears that varicose veins are not just unsightly but may also be an early warning sign of more serious problems.
At the recent launch of Antistax, an anti-varicose supplement from Boehringer Ingelheim Philippines, Mely Guerrero, group brand manager of the consumer healthcare division, said that while leg problems were not life-threatening, they were chronic lifestyle diseases that could severely hamper the way people functioned, particularly their mobility.
Leg problems, including varicose veins, could be early warning signs of the progressive disease called chronic venous insufficiency—a condition involving weak and damaged leg veins that would prevent them from pumping blood back to the heart. Symptoms could also include skin changes, itching and swelling.
Improving blood circulation is the key to preventing the problem, Guerrero said. Antistax, extracted from a special variety of grape leaves, was formulated to help improve blood circulation in the legs, she added.
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