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Kumasi City Authorities and Bloomberg Philanthropies have launched a elaborative report on road traffic deaths and serious injuries, seeking to strategically promote road safety.
The report, titled “Retrospective Assessment of Road Traffic Deaths and Serious Injuries Using Hospital Records in Kumasi, 2021-2022”, highlights the critical need for accurate data to address the scourge of road crashes in Kumasi and beyond.
Compiled using hospital records from Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), the report which was launched on Wednesday June 12, 2024 reveals the devastating impact of road crashes on individuals, families, and communities.
However, it also offers a beacon of hope, providing comprehensive data to inform strategies and interventions.
The report suggests that, hospital records on road traffic deaths linked to police fatal crash records to generate a reliable count on road fatalities in Kumasi revealed that there were 2.3 times more than police records showed for 2021 and 2022.
Per the report which does not necessarily seek to blame the police for undercounting and misrepresenting accurate account of road fatalities, the police recorded 294 road deaths in the Kumasi Metropolis in the two-year study period while hospital records captured 132 road fatalities.
Having identified cases in hospital records which were found in police records with a statistical technique applied, the estimated deaths in Kumasi for 2021 and 2022 was 663, suggesting that, police records captured 44 per cent of the estimated deaths for that period.
In furtherance, the report revealed that, majority of the deaths in hospital records were among vulnerables roads users comprising pediatricians, motorcyclists, tricyclists and bicyclists aged 20-39.
It also revealed that, 76 per cent of the fatal cases in hospital records were due to head injuries with the highest proportion recorded among pedestrians, motorcyclists and tricyclists.
In his keynote address, read by Mr. Francis Dwira-Darko, Metro Coordinating Director, the Mayor of Kumasi, Hon. Samuel Pyne, reiterated the Assembly’s and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ commitment to tackling the challenge of road crashes in the Metropolis.
He emphasised that the launch of this report, coupled with the formation of the Metro Road Safety Committee and the development of a Road Safety Strategy, demonstrates their preparedness to reduce road crashes drastically.
He therefore urged stakeholders to keep their feet on the padel in their collective effort to promote road safety.
Representatives from the National Road Safety Authority, Ghana Police Service, National Ambulance Service, Ghana National Fire Service, KATH, and other stakeholders who attended the launch, shared their thoughts, experiences, and underscored the importance of accurate data on road crashes.
They described the report as a valuable tool that would assist stakeholders in addressing the road crashes menace pragmatically.
