DOH offers 'playbook' to help local government units enhance road safety measures
The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday, May 17, said it offers a playbook for guidance on best practices and safety measures for local government units (LGUs) to enhance road safety in their provinces and cities.

“We have more countrymen who are in other provinces and cities, municipalities. There are our governors and mayors, and we offer them a so-called playbook,” DOH Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson Albert Domingo said in a Bagong Pilipinas interview.
“Because we know that the national highways under national government control, and in lay we have the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), but we are no longer Metro Manila, we are nationwide,” he added.
He explained that the guidance includes ordinances and safety measures aimed at reducing the number of deaths due to collisions, crossing accidents, and other road-related incidents.
The guide was released for the reason that the health department cited that from 7,938 deaths in 2011, there were nearly 11,096 deaths in 2021, with men accounting for 84 percent of these.
“Now, every year on average about 12,000 Filipinos die because of collisions, because of crossing, being run over, and those who use motorcycles, bicycles, and even those who ride tricycles. We are all vulnerable road users," Domingo said.
To address this, Domingo also explained that the department is using the Philippine Road Safety Action Plan from 2023 to 2028 of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) which has an Interagency Technical Working Group on Active Transport.
"That road safety action plan, our goal is to reduce by 35 percent the number of deaths or dying due to road traffic injuries for 2028 through road safety management, safer roads, safer vehicles, safer using of road, and to respond faster to collisions or post-crash response," he said.
On top of that, DOH has been promoting active transport to mitigate the increase of non-communicable disease (NCD) conditions like diabetes and obesity and provide resilience to instability in fossil fuel prices.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2024/5/10/doh-promotes-active-transport-for-safer-roads
“Meanwhile, kapag sinabing active trasport 'yan ay kung malapit lang naman lalo na hindi naman masyadong mainit ay lakarin nalang natin. (Meanwhile, when we say active transport, if it is close by especially if it's not too hot, just walk),” he explained.
The department also has affirmed working with partners to ensure pedestrians, cyclists, and other non-motorized vehicle users are the highest priority in the hierarchy of road users.