Road traffic injuries are the biggest killer of teenagers globally, according to new data

In 2015, more than 1.2 million adolescents died, with road injuries to blame for about one in 10 of these deaths.

Most of the road fatalities involved males between the ages of 10 and 19.

Earlier this year, it was revealed almost 17,000 people were hurt or killed on roads in the West Mercia Police area over a five-year period.

The region, which includes Shropshire, ranked 22nd out of 55 regions in the UK list for dangerous roads.

There were 16,850 people hurt or killed in West Mercia. And a ratio of one in 72 people living in the region were likely to be involved in an accident.

Dyfed Powys came 35th for the number of accidents, with 9,401. But in terms of ratio per population likely to be in an accident it came 12th, with one in 57.

Data released by the WHO also revealed chest infections and self-harm were the biggest global killers of girls and young women.

The top five killers of youngsters aged between 10 and 19 are road injury, lower respiratory infections, self-harm, diarrhoeal diseases and drowning.

According to the worldwide report, more than 3,000 adolescents die every day.

Over two-thirds of these deaths happen in low and middle-income countries in Africa and South East Asia.

Most young people killed by the top cause – road crashes – are "vulnerable" road users – pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

Males aged 15 to 19 make up the biggest share of these 115,302 fatalities, mostly in poorer countries in Europe, the Americas and the Eastern Mediterranean region.

Although far fewer in number, road injuries are still the leading cause of adolescent death in high-income countries, shortly followed by deaths from self-harm.

In 2015 in Britain, road accidents killed 145 people aged 10 to 19, and left 3,166 more seriously injured.

According to UK experts, the transition between primary and secondary school, when children often begin to walk to school unassisted, can be a particularly risky time.

In some countries, such as the UK, road safety education and legislation encouraging drivers to slow down appears to be having the desired effect, reducing road accident rates, says the WHO report author, Dr Anthony Costello.

But other countries are lagging, he says.

Deaths from self-harm are increasing in many regions, says Dr Costello.

"Self harm is a massive and increasing issue in many countries. We are seeing suicide rates go up.

"Adolescence is quite a stressful time of life. Young people need support, but adolescent health across the world has been largely neglected."

He says improving the way health systems serve adolescents is just one part of improving their health.

"Parents, families and communities are extremely important, as they have the greatest potential to positively influence adolescent behaviour and health," he added.