JAKARTA, 5 August 2018 – The region-wide ASEAN Car-Free Day (CFD), where dedicated areas or roads are regularly freed from traffic for a particular time, was launched in the capital of Indonesia and joined by Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia through the conduct of simultaneous and related activities on Sunday morning.
The ASEAN Car Free Day is a regional advocacy initiative led by the Ministry of Health Indonesia with the support of other health ministries of ASEAN to promote healthy lifestyles by conducting physical activities and similar forms of community-led activities during the traffic-free time.
The launch was held in conjunction with Indonesia’s attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest Poco-Poco—a popular Indonesian line dance—which involved more than 65,000 performers led by Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the historic National Monument in Jakarta. The dance was performed on a 15-km car-free stretch from the national monument through the main thoroughfare of Jl. Jend. Sudirman.
Secretary-General of ASEAN Dato Lim Jock Hoi, lauded the ASEAN health sector for their commitment and vision towards a healthy ASEAN Community by promoting healthy lifestyles for all ages.
Speaking at the media briefing on the ASEAN CFD launch at the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs office, Dato Lim explained that the initiative advocated the promotion of physical activity as a way to combat the increasing threats of non-communicable diseases.
As some ASEAN Member States have conducted regular car-free days for a number of years already, this initiative intends that car-free days are conducted in identified cities and areas in all countries of ASEAN.
ASEAN Leaders, the Secretary-General explained, have been deeply concerned that the threat of diseases such as heart and lung diseases, cancers, and diabetes, were increasingly one of the leading causes of deaths in ASEAN Member States. Younger people in low and middle-income communities were increasingly affected by premature deaths from non-communicable diseases leading to loss of productivity and socio-economic consequences, he added.
Apart from the health reasons and benefits of physical activity and the promotion of healthy lifestyles, the ASEAN Car Free Day also hopes to further support community building and engagement taking into account the other possible initiatives that can be built around car-free days, Dato Lim said.
The Secretary-General also congratulated the Government of Indonesia through the Ministry of Health led by Minister Dr. Nila Djuwita Farid Moeloek for leading the launch of the ASEAN Car Free Day, which also fulfills the commitment of ASEAN Leaders towards promoting a culture of healthy lifestyle as espoused in the ASEAN Declaration on the Culture of Prevention endorsed in Manila in November 2017.
For details of the ASEAN Car Free Day initiative, including on-going and planned activities of ASEAN Member States, please click here.
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