Safety Delivered, a program carried out by the AIP Foundation and supported by The UPS Foundation since 2017, will launch a series of multimedia campaigns to promote helmet wear in Việt Nam. — Photo Courtesy of AIP Foundation

HCM CITY — Safety Delivered, a programme implemented by non-profit Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation and supported by The UPS Foundation since 2017, is set to launch a series of multimedia campaigns, including billboard installations, photo contests and public service announcements across primary schools and hospitals in Hà Nội, HCM City and northern Thái Nguyên Province to raise awareness of the importance of helmet use.

The photo contests are held at 18 schools from June 11 to 30, with students being encouraged to develop ideas for photos along with classmates and family members to think critically about road safety in a collaborative way.

The photos will be shared through various AIP Foundation social media channels for both national and global audiences.

Russell Reed, managing director, UPS Thailand and Việt Nam, said: “Safety Delivered is engaging students in conversations about road safety in such a creative manner. It’s never too early to engage children on safe road habits.”

Safety Delivered will install 573 billboards at 360 primary school gates in HCM City and 220 schools in Thái Nguyên Province to remind parents that both they and their children must wear a helmet when riding to school, and will reiterate the dangers of non-helmet use when riding a motorcycle or bicycle.

The third component of the multimedia campaigns involves the airing of AIP Foundation’s public service announcement, “Love your child, provide a helmet,” a moving video of a child on a motorcycle with her parents while not wearing a helmet.

It will continue to be aired at Chợ Rẫy Hospital and Children’s Hospital II in HCM City, Việt Đức Hospital in Hà Nội and a province-level hospital in Thái Nguyên Province.

At Chợ Rẫy Hospital and Children’s Hospital II, it will be aired over 900 times a day from April to November.

Mirjam Sidik, CEO of AIP Foundation said: “Engaging beneficiaries through the media is crucial. We prioritise ensuring that the messages we send to the public, whether it is a hospital patient, student, parent, or school official, are consistent and recurring, which means that individuals are constantly being reminded of safe road behaviours so that they do not forget how life-saving a helmet can be.”

Schools are selected based on a variety of vulnerability criteria, including proximity to large, busy roads with many vehicles.

At target schools in HCM City, the pre-observation helmet-wearing rate of students was just 23 per cent. Following intervention, the rate increased to 77 per cent.

In Thái Nguyên Province they were 27 per cent and 80 per cent.

Through Safety Delivered, 10,942 total helmets will be distributed across Việt Nam during the 2019-20 school year to students, teachers, parents and their families. — VNS