2024-07-04 05:08:32
During the years 2022 and 2023, the highest figures of the 21st century were recorded, exceeding 8,600 victimsThis situation has made road accidents the eighth cause of death in Colombia, the fifth for men and the main cause of violent death among women.
The epidemiological phenomenon of road accidents has a growing impact on the health of Colombians, especially affecting vulnerable populations. In 2023, 535 children and adolescents lost their lives in transportation events, representing the only cause of violent death with an increasing variation of 9% compared to 2022. On the other hand, road accidents became the main cause of violent death among older adults, with a total of 1,768 lives lost, representing an increase of 6% compared to the previous year.
Despite the creation of the National Road Safety Agency and the National Road Safety Observatory more than a decade ago, the CGR has identified a lack of indicators for monitoring injured survivors. In a study carried out in 2023, entitled “Evaluation of the fiscal impact of road accidents on the health system”, it was determined that care for victims in 2022 exceeded one million cases, at a cost of more than $2.7 billion. These payments were made through the SOAT system, with claims to the insurers and to ADRES.
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Despite these efforts, the results are far from the goals set by public policy, which seeks to reduce deaths and injuries caused by road accidents by 50% by 2030. The CGR has shown that progress towards achieving the goals of the National Development Plan 2022-2026, the National Road Safety Plan 2022-2031 and the Sustainable Development Goals are far from what was expected.
In 2022 and 2023, the goal was to reduce annual deaths to 7,015 and 6,675, respectively; however, data from the National Road Safety Observatory reported 8,469 and 8,546 deaths in those years. For 2024, the goal is to reduce deaths to 6,371 people, which shows the urgent need for effective actions to reverse the growing trend in road accidents.
The CGR calls on the national government and the entities responsible for designing and implementing public health and road safety policies to improve coordination and prioritize the adoption of necessary actions to ensure a prompt reduction in road accidents.
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