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John Dalli has been appointed as the European Union's Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy. Mr Dalli has been Minister for Social Policy in Malta since 2007. He is an accountant and has worked as a management consultant in private companies and for the World Bank. He has been a member of parliament in Malta since 1987 and held various ministerial posts, including foreign affairs and finance. He succeeds Meglena Kuneva who held the consumer policy brief and Androulla Vassiliou who was the health commissioner.
Bloomberg pledges $125 million to reduce traffic deaths
In November 2009, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged US$125 million (£80 million; €90 million) to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from traffic accidents in developing countries, where poor roads and lax law enforcement exact a heavy toll. The donation is the largest ever made to curb traffic deaths and injuries, the World Health Organization said. ”It will finally put road safety on the same level with other leading causes of death,” said Etienne Krug, WHO's director of violence and injury prevention and disability. “It will allow us to set up large prevention programs.” The money will go to six organisations over 5'years to strengthen traffic safety laws and police training, advocate for infrastructure improvements like highway overpasses, and to conduct road safety assessments in 10 countries. Road traffic accidents are the 10th leading cause of death globally, after heart disease, lower respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS and other conditions, killing an estimated 1.27 million people a year, according to WHO. Traffic accidents also cause as many as 50 million non-fatal injuries a year. More than 90% of …
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Competing interests None.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; not externally peer reviewed.