Accra-Ghana, Nov. 25, GNA – Mr Osei Kufour, Initiative coordinator of the Bloomberg Philanthropies, an international non-governmental organisation in the US, has said road crashes were not accidents but preventable incidents.
He said there was the need to work collectively to create a road culture that prioritized safety, respect and responsibility and called on policymakers, law enforcement agencies and all road users to actively contribute to end the carnage.
Mr Kufour said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency as this year’s World Day of Remembrance was marked for road traffic victims at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.
The theme for the Day was “Justice” and was used to raise awareness, promote education on road safety, and to call for stricter measures to prevent further loss of lives.
Mr Kufour said: “We remember those who have lost their lives, honour their memories, celebrate the lives they lived, and cherish the impact they had on our world.”
Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah, Chief Executive Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital called for a collective effort to address the challenges.
He further called for multi-purpose dual lane to avoid head on collisions on the road resulting in the fatalities.
“More pressure is put on the hospitals when such cases occurred so we are training doctors and nurses to ensure effective healthcare delivery.
Dr Ampomah said the challenges of the hospitals were financial costs associated with victims who involve in accidents and appealed to non-governmental organisations to donate towards accident victims.
He expressed the hope that through collaboration effort by all social partners and stakeholders, the carnage would minimize.
“Life saving intervention needed have been put in place to improve effective healthcare delivery when accident cases are brought to the hospital.
Mr Gilbert Ankrah, Head of Public Affairs of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, who deputized for Mrs Elizabeth Kwatsoe Sackey, the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, expressed gratitude to the management of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for putting in place measures to address the concern of road users.
He said road traffic data collected by the National Road Safety Commission in 2011 identified Accra as one of the cities in Ghana with the highest road deaths.
“It is therefore a welcome move when Bloomberg Road Safety Initiative was launched for the Assembly to implement bold and new efforts to save lives and protect the citizenry from road traffic crashes,” he stated.
Mr Ankrah admonished all road users to be responsible and obey traffic regulations in order to prevent fatalities and injuries in the city.
Mr Martin Owusu Afram, Director of Planning and Programme of the National Road Safety Authority, called on stakeholders to be ambassadors on the roads to ensure zero fatalities and injuries.
He later donated an undisclosed amount of money to pay bills of accident victims of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
