Helmets for Families provided free helmets to 1,292 students and teachers at Lâm Văn Bền Primary School in Nhà Bè District on April 16. — Photo courtesy of Abbott Vietnam

HCM CITY — Helmets for Families launched its sixth year of programming at an event at Lâm Văn Bền Primary School in Nhà Bè District on April 16, handing out free helmets to nearly 1,300 students and teachers.

Implemented by the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation and supported by Abbott Vietnam and the HCM City’s Traffic Safety Committee and Department of Education and Training, the programme aims to improve awareness of teachers, parents and students of road safety and nearly 40,000 high-quality helmets to date.

This year, Helmets for Families will continue collaborating with doctors and medical professionals, using their experiences working with road crash victims to educate teachers, parents and students about the very real dangers of not wearing a helmet, according to AIP CEO Mirjam Sidik.

“By empowering teachers and parents to create communities of safer drivers and passengers, we can make a positive impact to the future of our children,” said Douglas Kuo, General Manager of Abbott Vietnam. “We believe that by promoting good road safety behaviours such as wearing quality helmets, our children, who are the future generations of Việt Nam, will be better protected so that they grow to reach their full potential.”

Last month, teachers and parents visited doctors and patients at Chợ Rẫy Hospital to learn from their experiences with road-related tragedies. The information will be used as material for teachers and student training programmes at schools. The Helmets for Families programme also provides communication materials to road injury patients and their families at national and local hospitals in HCM City.

After six years since being launched in 2013, the programme has provided nearly 40,000 high-quality helmets to students and teachers at 17 schools in HCM City. In the first three years, the average helmet-wearing rate of students increased from 27.5 per cent to 80.75 per cent in HCM City. In Hà Nội, the average helmet-wearing rate increased from 5.6 per cent to 84 per cent after one year. — VNS