Road Accident Victims Unit to be set up

16 November 2011 08:42 am

The health ministry requests the public to maintain one minute silence at 10.00am next Sunday to remember those who have died following road accidents, a senior official said today.

He said the Health Ministry is to set up a special ‘Road Accident Victims Unit’ under the Non Communicable Disease Branch at the ministry to control road accidents.

Addressing a seminar conducted for media personnel at the Health Education Bureau to mark the ‘Prevention of Road Accidents Week’ declared by the health ministry, additional secretary of the ministry Dr. Palitha Mahipala said nearly 2,500 road accident victims succumb to their injuries annually in Sri Lanka.

“Road accidents and resultant deaths and injuries are a national problem that must be addressed immediately as the damage caused is enormous in terms of lives and injuries sustained on victims and the huge cost to treat over 200,000 who get injured,” Dr. Mahipala stressed. (Sandun A. Jayasekera)