The World Heath Organization reports that:
Traffic kills four times as many people as wars and far more people commit suicide than are murdered, the World Health Organization said today.
In two reports on injuries, both accidental and deliberate, the United Nations agency said they killed more than 5 million people in 2000, one-tenth of the global death toll.
Road deaths, totaling 1.26 million, claimed the highest number of victims, followed by suicide at 815,000 and interpersonal violence at 520,000.
Wars and conflicts ranked sixth — between poisonings and falls — with 310,000 deaths.
This is the most believeable fact I’ve seen recently. All you have to do is drive to work to realize that it’s true.
I’ve been meaning for some time to write a little something about SARS – it’s interesting to me how it’s become a big concern. For example: it’s on the news right now. Hong Kong reports 6 new cases today. SIX. This is important news. Let’s put this in perspective: More people die every year of the flu than SARS. Today an average of 3,452 people will die in car accidents. This does not get on the news. Here’s something more horrifying: 24,000 people will die today of hunger. That’s 8.76 million people every year. 3/4 of those deaths are children under 5. Why isn’t that on the news every day like SARS is?
My theory: because “it can’t happen to me.” That’s the syndrome governing how much attention something gets. The people that make decisions about what is news are not likely to die of starvation, they don’t identify with victims of HIV/AIDS, they’ve never been anywhere where they can contract Ebola or Dengue Fever. But they’re worried that they can catch SARS just by breathing. Thus, it becomes a very important story.
