Public health and road safety in Australia focus on NSW state Essay

Public health and road safety in Australia focus on NSW state - Essay Example This document examines the validity of this approach with respect to the current situation in New South Wales, Australia and provides justification for the involvement of the public health department in this initiative. It raises points as to why road safety merits the interest of the public health department and is a necessity for the improvement of overall public health. Public health, as defined by the National Public Health Partnership (1998) is â€Å"The organized response by society to protect and promote health and to prevent illness, injury and disability†. Considering that the main focus of the public health department is public health, it is apparent that road safety, which accounts for numerous injuries, disabilities and death in the population is also a point of concern for the public health department (PHD). Road traffic accidents are known to claim over 1.3 million lives a year all over the world (WHO 2011). In Australia alone, 1507 fatal road traffic accidents w ere reported in 2009. New South Wales accounted for 453 of these (nearly one third) (RTA 2010). Considering that each of these incidents could have been prevented, it is obvious that there is a lot of scope for improvement of road safety. A review of the statistics reveals that alcohol and fatigue were quite often the cause of road accidents in the state.