TASC : The Alliance for Safe Children.

Another tragic drowning incident in Thailand claimed the lives of five children in the north-east of Thailand on March 21. The five children drowned in a waterway close to their homes when an after-school swim went terribly wrong. Three of the five children who drowned were siblings. (more)

The Alliance for Safe Children (TASC) & UNICEF jointly launched a new set of reports showing injury is the number one killer of children aged over one year old in Asia. Surveys from Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam reveal that injury is the leading cause of death and disability among children older than one year of age in these countries, with drowning taking the heaviest toll. Nearly half of all child deaths included in the studies happened after the age of five. (more)

To celebrate Children’s Day, TASC and the English-language school, Asian Institute for Business and Communications (AIBC), offered free classes for five to 12 year olds, teaching them about drowning prevention and road safety.

The classes were held at the Electricity Generating Commission of Thailand Head Office Fair at Nonthaburi. More than 200 children participated in the half-hour classes and 1500 people took copies of the Thai Child Injury (short) Report. (more)

TASC was saddened to learn of the passing of Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana. The Princess was well-known for her contribution to foundations associated with children, education and health issues and will be sadly missed throughout Thailand’s non-government sector. We extend our sincere condolences to the Thai people during this time of mourning.

TASC congratulates Thai drivers on the reduction in road fatalities and injuries during the New Year holiday period. However, there were still a significant number of preventable deaths and injuries, with 401 deaths and 4903 injuries in just seven days. Drink driving and speeding were the highest causes of death.

TASC urges all Thai drivers to take extra care when driving and don’t drink and drive. Given that 81 per cent of accidents involved motorcycles, TASC specifically urges motorcyclists to always wear their helmets and to ensure they buy good quality helmets that provide optimal protection against injury.

TASC was delighted to be featured in the Outlook section of the Bangkok Post on December 19. The article focused on the Thailand Child Injury Report and specifically highlighted the risk of death from drowning. To read the full text go to: www.bangkokpost.com/191207_Outlook/19Dec2007_out001.php

TASC would like to wish all its supporters and friends a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year. We at TASC are hopeful that in the year ahead more people around the world will learn about the high cost of child injury across Asia. We believe that child injury can be dramatically reduced as awareness increases and simple safety and education programs are put in place.

Aside from Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, TASC’s Thailand office will be fully operational throughout the holiday period.

Older children in Thailand will get access to the safe schools curriculum as a result of a new grant from the Australian Embassy. The Embassy has awarded TASC one of its annual discretionary fund grants to help produce the new curriculum for grades five and six. In addition, the grant will allow copies of the booklets for years three and four to be printed. TASC is working on this project in collaboration with Chulalongkorn University and local teachers.

TASC’s presentation at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand was broadcast on TOC Thailand Outlook during November 2007. The Child Injury: An Avoidable Tragedy special featured the full speeches of TASC co-founder Douglas “Pete” Peterson and Professor Chitr Sitthi-Amorn as part of the Thailand Insight hour. TOC Thailand Outlook is Thailand's first 24 hour English language news channel. TASC was delighted that TOC Thailand Outlook highlighted child injury in this way.

The issue of child injury was spotlighted on Tuesday, October 30 by The Straits Times, featuring on the front page in the Upfront column. The Singapore-based, English-language newspaper is widely read throughout South East-Asia. (more)

TASC continued its public awareness campaign in Thailand this month, with co-founder Ambassador Douglas “Pete” Peterson addressing the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand on Wednesday October 17. (more)

TASC is delighted to announce that Mr Ian Scott is our new TASC Country Manager for Vietnam. As part of TASC’s ongoing commitment to Vietnam, Ian will be located in Da Nang, Central Vietnam. (more)

TASC notes with sadness the tragic drowning deaths of three girls in the Phitsanulok Province, Thailand last week. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident in Thailand. Thousands of children die every year in drowning accidents. (more)

TASC Co-Founder to Speak at Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand in October

Ambassador Douglas "Pete" Peterson will speak at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 at 8pm on the subject "Child Injury: An Avoidable Tragedy". The club's address is Penthouse, Maneeya Center, 518/5 Ploenchit Road, (connected to the BTS Skytrain Chitlom station), Patumwan, Bangkok. (more)

TASC'S New Office In Vietnam

TASC’s plans for expanding our presence in Vietnam are progressing well, with a new office opening in Da Nang to support a resident technical adviser due to arrive in late September. (more)

More Thai children are dying from injury than communicable and non-communicable diseases, a groundbreaking new report has revealed. (more)

The Alliance for Safe Children and partners in Indonesian Ministry of Health have completed research on a large cohort of survivors of the 2004 Asian Tsunami Disaster in a bid to discover whether anything could be done to reduce the human toll in similar circumstances or in other large scale water and flooding disasters in the future. (more)

TASC’s landmark Bangladesh injury prevention program was comprehensively reviewed by an internal working group comprised of TASC, Centre for Injury Prevention & Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB) and UNICEF’s Bangladesh Health office staff in July 2007, with some very promising results. (more)

TASC has joined forces with UNICEF Cambodia and national partners to produce the country’s largest community based injury survey. (more)

TASC’s Ross Cox was a guest speaker at the International Life Saving (ILS) Association’s biennial Asia Pacific Regional meeting, which was held in Singapore on 3-4 August, 2007. (more)