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As part of its efforts to reduce cases
of accidents and casualties on the nation’s highways, the Federal Road
Safety Corps (FRSC) has entered into a partnership with the Ministry of
Health to actualise the United Nations’ ‘decade of action’ on road
safety.

The corps marshal and chief executive of
the FRSC, Osita Chidoka, said yesterday in Abuja that his commission
had developed a national strategy, which had already been adopted by the
relevant agencies, towards the actualisation of the goal.

The action plan, which is slated for
launch tomorrow, and which Nigeria as a member of the United Nations is
fully committed to, will enable an improvement in the condition of the
nation’s highways, the regulation of license issuance, drivers’
training, as well as post-crash care.

Mr Chidoka said inter-agency support had
helped the commission in achieving the reduction of deaths on Nigerian
roads. In 2010, the country recorded a 33 percent reduction in the
fatalities on its roads, and a 30 percent reduction in automobile
crashes. This year, a 23 percent reduction in road-accident deaths had
already been recorded.

“If more effort is not committed to
reducing the menace of accidents on Nigeria roads, the percentage of
casualties from road accidents will rise to 65 percent in 2015,
overtaking malaria as one of the leading causes of deaths,” he said.

Mr Chidoka said some of the commission’s
efforts at ensuring the reduction of roads accidents in Nigeria
included the sensitisation of motorists, the training of road safety
officials and partnership with bodies such as the World Bank.

Cause of mortality

The minister of health, Onyebuchi
Chukwu, commended the FRSC on its efforts to curb the carnage on the
roads but noted that traffic injuries were a major cause of morbidity
and mortality in the country.

The minister, who described trauma as a
serious health issue that leads to so many other diseases, stressed the
need for more attention to be placed on it. He said the federal
government was working towards improving the three hospitals which had
the requisite skills to handle trauma cases.

Mr Chukwu also called for the thorough
medical examination of potential drivers before licenses are issued to
them and enforcement by the relevant law enforcement agencies.

The representative of the World Health
Organisation (WHO), David Okello, noted that part of the objectives of
the ‘decade of action’ is to change the perception about the problem.

“Though road crash injury is mostly
predictable and preventable, it can only be solved by multi-sectoral
cooperation and action,” he said.