IV. Helmets for Kids In the developing world of Southeast Asia, the motorcycle is the primary mode of transportation for work, school and leisure. Tragically, a significant number of young children are being killed every single day due to serious head trauma caused by motorcycle accidents. While we cannot change the ways and means of transportation, we can make a difference in a child’s life by providing them with a helmet. In 2000, AIP Foundation launched the Helmets for Kids (HFK) program and has since distributed over 400,000 certified Protec tropical helmets as an immediate intervention, along with teacher and student training on road safety. Program components include crash investigations, monitoring & surveillance, and daily traffic safety instruction. Much of HFK’s success, to date, results from the incorporation of helmets into the school curriculum – effectively making helmets part of the schools’ uniforms. The development of a lightweight helmet has been hailed as “a milestone in child safety”. The real success of Helmets for Kids, however, can be measured by the growing number of children already saved by their helmets. Thanks to financial support from the public and private sector, HFK has donated free helmets to primary school children in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Africa. 1. Helmets for Kids Vietnam In 2008, AIP Foundation distributed helmets to 22 schools in 7 provinces. In 2008, 43 children’s lives were saved under HFK program. Challenges include changing parents’ misperception of helmets unsafe for their children. Though it may take more time to change this mistaken belief, most of the parents in HFK schools are cooperative and supportive of putting helmets on their children when riding a bike or a bicycle. Improved helmet trainings, educational ceremonies and non-class activities have increased the understanding of the protective value of helmets for children by teachers, students and parents in HFK schools. Vietnamese motorcycle crash victim Le Xuan Han was honored on the United National General Assembly floor by Make Roads Safe Commissioner Lord George Robertson in an emotional opening speech. The 8 year old Han was a member of the Helmets for Kids program. She was killed during Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) of 2008 when a drunk driver crashed into the motorbike carrying her parents and sister. The parents had made an exception to the girls wearing their helmets on that particular day. Han’s mother, Nguyen Thi Xuan Diem, has since courageously vowed that Han’s death will not to be in vain. She is supporting AIP Foundation’s effort to publicize the tragic case so that other parents will learn the importance to always make children wear helmets, and avoid the loss and grief their family will carry forever. Hundred thousands of flyers featuring little Han’s sad story were distributed to all parents and teachers of over 2,000 primary schools in Vietnam. AIP Foundation published an Open Letter to address the misconception that helmets are unsafe for children. The announcement is co-signed by international experts in the field of helmets and by the director of the leading Vietnamese hospital in head trauma care.
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