Project to reduce motorcycle crashes with vision interventions lauched in HCM City

The launching ceremony for STABLE (short for 'Slashing Two-wheeled Accidents By Leveraging Eyecare') trial was held in HCM City on Tuesday. — Photos courtesy of AIP Foundation

HCM CITY — AIP Foundation in collaboration with its partners, including the National Traffic Safety Committee, the Transport Development & Strategy Institute, the Việt Nam's Ministry of Transport as well as the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in HCM City hosted the launching event of the STABLE Trial, ahead of World Sight Day 2024.

The STABLE (short for 'Slashing Two-wheeled Accidents By Leveraging Eyecare') trial is a preliminary study examining the intersection of vision and road safety, employing contemporary methodologies and focusing on the most vulnerable populations in road safety, namely youth.

It brings together a series of international funders and partners including The Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation, Clearly, The Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation, Wellcome Trust, Queen's University Belfast and Yonsei University.

“STABLE aims to investigate innovative strategies in road safety, focusing on addressing the challenges young drivers face, such as safely accessing education and improving overall road safety,” Sangchul Yoon, Professor at Yonsei University, said.

The objective of the launching event was to introduce the new programme to national and local government partners, project universities and media and to strengthen the engagement among all government partners and university collaborators in the program implementation.

In addition, during the launching event, national and local governments gathered with five universities in HCM City including the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Nông Lâm (Agriculture & Forestry) University, HCM University of Education, College of Foreign Economic Relations, HCM City University of Technology and Education.

Promoting World Sight Day 2024 for healthier eyes

World Sight Day, which takes place annually in October, focuses the world’s attention on the importance of eye care in young people. This day also marks an opportunity to advocate for eye health as a global issue, raise awareness on the importance of eye care within families, individuals and communities and help to activate demand for eye health services globally.

“On behalf of the National Traffic Safety Committee, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to participate in today's event. Hopefully, the project's research results will contribute to providing innovative and practical solutions to promote knowledge and skills to ensure health conditions for safer traffic of young people, our future generation of Việt Nam,” remarked Trịnh Thu Hà, Deputy Chief of Office, National Traffic Safety Committee,

Before the launch event, students from different participating universities took part in the eyes screening using the WHOeyes App. WHOeyes is a free mobile application that checks near visual acuity, checks distance visual acuity, is language agnostic (uses the tumbling E chart) and provides educational messages on how individuals can protect their eyes.

Visual acuity is the most common assessment of visual function. It is a simple, non-invasive measure and critical to determine the presence of vision impairment (WHO 2023).

Delegates at the launching ceremony try out the WHOeyes application on their mobile devices.

Engaging young drivers across HCM City for safer mobility

Mirjam Sidik, Chief Executive Officer at AIP Foundation, in closing remarks, highlighted the urgent importance of embracing our youth as active participants, not beneficiaries in our society.

Change is only possible if it is brought about for youth by youth, she said.

“AIP Foundation is proud to be part of this pioneering trial in HCM City, Việt Nam. We are joined today by an international array of partners who are dedicated to safeguarding university students and their journeys to study. Our shared commitment will continue to shine this World Sight Day 2024 and beyond to ensure their safety,” Mirjam Sidik noted.

The innovative initiative is poised to drive significant progress for road safety across the southern economic hub. — VNS