JH-IIRU Leads Study on Early Impact of Multi-Faceted Road Safety Intervention Program in Mexico

The results of a recent study led by Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (JH-IIRU) team members suggests that a multi-faceted road safety intervention program is potentially effective in reducing road traffic crashes in a middle-income country setting.

In January 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Mexican Ministry of Health and the National Center for Accident Prevention (CENAPRA) launched a national multi-faceted road safety intervention program called the Iniciativa Mexicana de Seguridad Vial y Prevención de Lesiones en el Tránsito (Mexican Initiative for Road Safety and Prevention of Road Traffic Injuries) (IMESEVI), funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies.  The IMESEVI approach utilized a package of evidence-based polices into a comprehensive multipronged effort to reduce the burden of road traffic injuries and deaths in four Mexican cities, including Guadalajara (Jalisco) and León (Guanajuato). The interventions focused on augmenting drink-driving enforcement and seatbelt and child restraint use campaigns.

Two years after the initial launch of IMESEVI, Bloomberg Philanthropies funded the Global Road Safety Program to improve road safety in 10 low- and middle-income countries—including Mexico—which subsequently began the second phase of IMESEVI. In this phase, both Guadalajara and León were included, but the interventions focused on drink-driving enforcement and legislation in the first year, with the addition of seatbelt and child restraint campaigns in the second year.

The study, conducted by JH-IIRU team members in collaboration with local collaborators at the Centro de Investigación en Sistemas de Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, in Cuernavaca, México, used a time series analysis to assess the effectiveness of both phases of the IMESEVI on Mexico’s road traffic crashes, injuries and deaths.

While the study had several limitations, including the lack of information regarding alcohol consumption at a national level and the quality of secondary information available in Mexico, results suggest that such a multi-faceted intervention program appears to be effective in reducing road traffic crashes.

Access “Early Impact of a National Multi-Faceted Road Safety Intervention Program in Mexico: Results of a Time-Series Analysis,” published in PLOS One, here.