United Nations launches campaign to reduce road accidents

▲ The WHO emphasizes that the number of deaths and injuries has remained unchanged over the past 20 years, and is urging immediate action. Photo by Jair Cabrera Torres

Ángeles Cruz Martínez

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, p. 14

Driving a vehicle while simultaneously texting or reading a cell phone increases the risk of an accident fourfold, while taking your eyes off the road for five seconds while traveling on a highway at 90 kilometers per hour (km/h) is equivalent to traveling 100 meters with your eyes closed. This, along with speeding and driving under the influence of toxic substances, is the leading cause of accidents that result in more than 16,000 deaths each year in Mexico.

These are some of the messages that will be disseminated as part of the campaign promoted by the United Nations (UN) in collaboration with JCDecaux in Mexico. The goal is to raise public awareness about the importance of taking measures to prevent accidents, deaths, and injuries that leave victims with physical disabilities.

The strategy was presented yesterday at a conference attended by Jean Todt, UN Special Envoy for Road Safety, who underscored the seriousness of the problem worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

To give an idea of ​​the situation in Mexico, he said the number of individuals who lose their lives is equivalent to 13 people per 100,000 inhabitants per year, while in Europe the number of deaths is between 3 and 6 per 100,000.

Todt is visiting the country to promote the campaign, which is part of the UN's Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 and the global plan on the issue. The goal is to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries by 50 percent.

The strategy designed by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that the number of deaths and injuries has remained virtually unchanged over the past 20 years, making it urgent for countries to act. It estimates that each year road accidents cause nearly 1.3 million preventable deaths and 50 million injuries.

This is the leading cause of death among children and young people worldwide. Furthermore, the WHO predicts that if the trend continues, 13 million deaths and 500 million injuries will occur over the next decade, which will become an obstacle to sustainable development, primarily in low-income nations.

In Mexico, the #MakeASecurityDeclaration campaign has been running since June 22 in 150 locations in Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Monterrey, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Yucatán, Tabasco, and Tijuana.

In turn, Jesús Zapata, director of Mobility Culture for Mexico City, reported that the Ministry of Mobility is promoting policies to improve road safety and plans to make legal changes so that vehicles with speeds exceeding 25 km/h (motorcycles) are considered vehicles and, therefore, subject to the same traffic rules, among other measures.

Alonso Urrutia and Emir Olivares

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, p. 14

The Secretary of Public Education, Mario Delgado, maintained that the entrance exam for UNAM and the National Polytechnic Institute experienced minor incidents that did not affect the process. He noted that 107,790 applicants participated in the exam, out of a total of 109,266 who originally registered, and only 97 incidents were reported. The truth is that it was a success. Occasionally, there may be some glitches .

On another note, during the presidential conference, Delgado reported that construction is progressing on 14 schools that will be used to expand high school offerings in communities where there is greater demand. He explained that the federal government will allocate 1.215 billion pesos. Two schools are finished and were already under construction: the one in Tecámac and the one in Reynosa, both of which are completely new, and are ready to begin the next school year.

In this regard, President Claudia Sheinbaum highlighted that 18,000 students are enrolled in the new high school campuses, plus 10,500 students are enrolled in other initiatives to expand spaces at the high school level. This will add up to 37,500 new places for upper secondary education this year.

Expand the educational offer

Delgado explained that the policy to expand educational offerings at this level also includes the use of buildings at some secondary schools that only offer morning classes to offer afternoon high school classes. These schools are being converted to 35 schools, with an investment of 759.5 million pesos. The program has already begun at 23 schools, and will begin in 11 in July. This represents an additional 10,500 places. If we add all three figures, we reach almost 37,500 new places at the high school level.

Elaborating on the admissions exams for UNAM and IPN, the secretary commented that some problems had occurred, especially due to the connectivity issue, which will be resolved by the Polytechnic University and UNAM. He considered the most important thing to be that, once the results are released, on average, 90 percent of young people will be selected between their first and second choices, something that was not achieved at Comipems. This has to do with the high school closest to their place of residence or a specific preference that young people have.

Lilian Hernández Osorio

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, p. 14

Eighty percent of rare diseases are genetic, and in Mexico, approximately 8 million people suffer from one of these conditions, 50 percent of which begin in childhood, explained Juan Carlos Centeno Ruiz, a professor at the UNAM School of Medicine. He noted that one of the problems patients face is the diagnostic ordeal , as they often consult up to eight medical specialists and go through three erroneous diagnoses before arriving at a definitive one.

For this reason, he reported that UNAM has the Rare Disease Diagnostic Unit (UDER) and the International Human Genome Research Laboratory, where 800 people have been evaluated in the three years this unit has been operating.

Specialized assessment

Since its opening in June 2022, he said the unit has performed more than 600 genetic studies, with 60 percent of people with a positive genetic diagnosis beginning treatment.

He also mentioned that the most common rare diseases are hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, albinism, and phenylketonuria, but there are others such as galactosemia, glycosylation disorders, mucopolysaccharidosis, and familial hypercholesterolemia.

He noted that the country also has the National Institute of Genomic Medicine, the National Institute of Public Health, and civil society organizations to conduct specialized assessments.

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, p. 14

Yesterday, the first 500 pairs of free glasses were distributed to elementary school children as part of the national Live Healthy, Live Happy strategy and Health Days. The Secretary of Public Education, Mario Delgado Carrillo, led the ceremony, which brought together three public schools in school zone 228 in Mexico City.

In a statement, the Ministry of Public Education reported that this strategy has visited 17,588 schools to date, assessing more than 2.7 million children, with the participation of 7,744 health specialists.