Reducing the spread of COVID-19 and getting students to school safely during the pandemic: Spotlight Series

A win-win: Reducing the spread of COVID-19 and getting students to school safely during the pandemic

As schools reopen, we aim to protect students from COVID-19. However, the journey to school is often left out of the conversation. There are simple, cost-effective ways to keep students safe on their journeys, which also address the epidemic on wheels that existed far before the pandemic began. Road traffic injuries kill more 5-29 year olds than any other cause. Now is the time to accelerate measures that increase walking and cycling, which are conducive to physical distancing, and to decrease the use of polluting vehicles. From school buses to public transport, there are many ways to keep students safe from these dual threats during their journeys to school. 

Join Natalie Draisin as she shares guidance from UNICEF and the Child Health Initiative (CHI) on safe and healthy journeys to school during the pandemic and beyond, and a corresponding open database from UNICEF, Save the Children, and CHI of global examples.
 

Natalie Draisin, MPH, MBA is the Director of the North American Office and the United Nations Representative for the FIA Foundation. Dedicated to ensuring safe and sustainable mobility as a policy priority, Natalie leads the Foundation’s activities across the Americas and advances evidence-based solutions around the world. Highlights of her global partnerships include founding Vision Zero for Youth with the National Center for Safe Routes to School, creating a Traffic Conflict Technique Toolkit with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and enabling the creation of the New Mobility Initiative at Johns Hopkins University. Natalie has an MPH, MBA and BA from the Johns Hopkins University.

This event is presented in celebration of the MPH program centennial.