The Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Allaster Cox, announced the provision of this non-refundable aid on January 8, while accompanying the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Harry Jenkins, on a visit to the Protec Helmet Factory in Hanoi’s outlying Soc Son district.

Supplied through the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIPF), the money will be used to create advertisements and carry out a public information campaign to encourage the wearing of motorbike helmets by children, AIPF’s President and Protec General Director Greig Craft said.

Ambassador Cox said he hoped that the Government of Vietnam would update the current road safety regulations to make the wearing of helmets by child motorcycle passengers compulsory in Vietnam.

During the 2006-2007 fiscal year, the Australian Agency of International Development (AusAID) contributed AUD176,000 to the National Helmet Wearing Campaign, which was launched by AIPF and the Vietnam National Traffic Safety Committee.

Vietnam’s mandatory helmet law became effective on December 15, 2007. As a result, the wearing of crash helmets by adults has increased from 3 percent to 95 percent, and more than 1,000 lives were saved during the past year.

The Preventative Medicine Department revealed an average of 7,000 local child deaths as a result of accidents every year, with traffic accidents by far the biggest contributor to this statistic.

However, the rate of child motorbike passengers wearing crash helmets is estimated at just 39 percent, the department said.