Keeping Our Heads In The Motorcycle Helmet Debate

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 16 Oct 2009 – 4:00 PDT 

What

“The Public Health Implications of Helmet Laws in Taiwan” – special lecture presented by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health

Who

Wen-Ta Chiu, M.D., Ph.D., president and professor of medicine, public health and nutritional science, Taipei Medical University, and 2009 University of Pittsburgh Legacy Laureate. Dr. Chiu received his doctoral degree in public health at the University of Pittsburgh in 1989.

When

8:30 to 9:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 22

Where

Room A115, Crabtree Hall, 130 DeSoto St., Oakland

Why

In 1997, Dr. Chiu led a successful campaign in Taiwan to institute laws requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets, saving an estimated 5,000 lives each year. His lecture will recount the history of the campaign and its impact on public health, drawing comparisons to the ongoing debate about mandatory helmet laws in Pennsylvania, which were repealed in 2003.

The talk is free and open to the public. For more information, call (412) 383-8849. For those who cannot attend, a live webcast will be available at http://www.publichealth.pitt.edu/helmet_law_lecture.

The lecture is part of the Supercourse , an online repository of the latest lectures in global health for educators around the world.

Source
University of Pittsburgh