Abstract

Increased motor vehicle crashes and resultant deaths during the Ramadan month have been reported in predominantly Muslim countries, especially those in the Middle East and the Gulf. In Qatar, the leading cause of death is road traffic injuries and a marked increase in road deaths was noted in the Ramadan month of 2013. In response, multiple government and non-governmental agencies implemented multi-disciplinary programs consisting of enhanced traffic enforcement, news and multi-media awareness campaigns starting 1–2 months before the Ramadan with specific safety messages for high-risk populations. Mortality data from the National Mortuary was extracted and compared between the 2 Ramadan periods. When compared with road traffic deaths in 2013, road traffic deaths in 2014 were reduced by 40% with the greatest reductions [>65%] in pre-hospital deaths, young fatalities [<30 years] and among Gulf Country nationals. The multi-disciplinary nature of the programs implemented were effective at reducing Ramadan road deaths but further analysis to isolate the most effective components must be done and those identified as effective must be repeated.