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Gibson Mhaka, Senior Features Reporter
AS the world struggles through the Covid-19 pandemic, it may also be worth considering another health crisis, which has been silently going on for decades but seldom seen by the global population and governments as a serious global health problem.
Road traffic accidents, just like Covid-19, are also a huge global threat which causes suffering, loss, death, grief, and untold economic hardships in developing countries like Zimbabwe with low capacity to manage them.
As stated by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ), the principal agent in promoting traffic safety in the country, an average of 1 800 people are killed on Zimbabwean roads annually while 30 000 others are injured. These figures mean that about five people die every day on our roads and 38 others are injured daily.
It is disturbing to note that there are many unreported accidents which if added to the reported cases, the figures would be much higher.
According to the Global Status Report on road safety, which was launched by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in December 2018, road traffic injuries are now the leading killer of people aged five to 29 years and the burden is disproportionately borne by pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, in particular those living in developing countries.
The report can be an attestation that as the country is battling to cope with the outbreak of the coronavirus, traffic safety measures which seem to have never been considered so seriously and massively by the Government neither accepted by the people, also needs special attention like the one which is being given to Covid-19.
In general, most of the public was distracted from road safety messages and some of the campaigns that road safety advocates were doing were suspended to wait until Covid-19 comes under control.
The pandemic also meant less police capacity for enforcement and for safety activists, this also means less attention for behaviour change campaigns and advocacy.
The Covid-19 pandemic seems to have exposed weaknesses of governance structures in developing countries like Zimbabwe and others in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) regarding measures being taken to mitigate road traffic accidents.
Like the response to Covid-19, there is also need by drivers, passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians to practise measures that help reduce road traffic fatalities which are also being regarded as a major global health problem.
WHO defines a road traffic fatality as ‘any person killed immediately or dying within 30 days as a result of a road traffic accident injury’. However, only 80 countries, globally, use the 30-day definition with others using on scene, 24 hours, seven days or within a year as indicators.
According to WHO, Zimbabwe uses the 24-hour indicator.
The call to give attention to road deaths as a major global health problem comes on the back of a research which shows that as governments focus their attention on addressing the coronavirus pandemic, other priorities such as road safety are scaled back.
In Zimbabwe, road safety remains a major concern as road traffic accidents are emerging as the leading cause of deaths in the country after HIV and Aids, malaria and cancer. Hence, lessons should be drawn from the coronavirus pandemic which shows what can be achieved through government action and community mobilisation.
Certainly, the effectiveness of the measure to control the spread of Covid-19 can be an excellent example for the need of more serious and massive measures to address the traffic accidents’ pandemic.
The Covid-19 pandemic is undoubtedly a great opportunity for more serious work for the road accidents pandemic which has been traditionally receiving much less attention.
While lockdowns have had enormous economic and social impacts, the benefits of reduced transport identified during lockdowns are profound and go beyond valuable decreases in road crash deaths and disabling injuries.
It is highly important that during this lockdown, focus should also be given to the major traffic killers and these include speeding, mobile phone use, drink-and-drive, over-taking and reversing errors, fatigue and negligent pedestrians or cyclists.
According to road safety advocates, the current dramatic experience with Covid-19 should provide Government and stakeholders in the transport sector with guidance and broader lessons to save many lives and much future suffering.
TSCZ acting managing director Mr Clifford Gobo said indications from the Covid-19 response show that the pandemic can also be a model for the road safety epidemic where everyone should take full interest in safety issues by demanding desirable road safety practices from drivers and report reckless drivers to law enforcement agents.
“When life returns to normal there are broader lessons that we can learn from Covid-19 responses. The pandemic shows us that a global problem requires global cooperation and unity of purpose. There is also need to look closely at our current health facilities and personnel’s capacity to deal with global pandemics especially what is the global health’s facilities’ ability to cope with road crashes. Indications from Covid-19 response also shows that developing countries like Zimbabwe too require assistance to deal with other major global health problems like road traffic deaths,” said Mr Gobo.
Additionally, Mr Gobo said all measures being taken by Government and stakeholders in the transport sector in countering road traffic deaths require continuous research and development.
In one of his articles on how Covid-19 can provide governments with something for the road safety epidemic, head of the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) Dr Soames Job said road safety has traditionally lacked political salience, something that is being exhibited in the fight against Covid-19.
“We must learn from the effective community pressure applied for stronger public policies on Covid-19, including stronger advocacy for economic benefits. Road safety may gain from strongly holding politicians to account for road crash deaths, instead of our currently pervasive victim-blaming. In both crises, arguments for not locking down or for high road travel speeds have been naïvely based on lack of evidence. The Covid-19 experience has shown how disastrous this is,” said Dr Job.
He said scientific inquiry and advice on road safety are too often marginalised and the problem is being taken as intractable.
“For Covid-19, expert advice has been heeded, albeit too slowly in some cases, with trillions of dollars committed to the cause and supporting economies through the crisis. One difference which may facilitate the influence of science for Covid-19 is that it is an infectious disease, a class of problems on which we are in the habit of accepting scientific medical advice,” he said.
From Dr Job’s observations, it is clear that despite the fact that tens of thousands of people die on the highways, it seems road traffic fatality is a risk that the Government and the people have accepted that we can live with.
A road safety advocate Mr Edwin Ndlovu, who is also vice-president of the Zimbabwe Driving Schools Owners Association (ZDSOA) and director of Gracious Driving School said it was essential to analyse our response to Covid-19 with the road safety epidemic in mind, since it is emerging as one of the leading cause of deaths in the country.
Drawing the analogy between road death crashes and coronavirus, Mr Ndlovu said the bounds of these two major global health problems or horrific causes were similar.
“Just like Covid-19, road traffic deaths are also avoidable in its deadly consequences if the Government through stakeholders such as driving schools, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, ZRP and Vehicle Inspection Department had robust traffic safety measures. We are now seeing the result of inaction that has led to the level of road deaths on our roads.
“We need safer road traffic and no accidents during and after the Covid-19 pandemic and perhaps the Covid-19 crisis can be the trigger also for a new and serious behaviour of the authorities and the citizens for safer roads for all, everywhere in the world,” said Mr Ndlovu.
It is therefore clear that there is a strong need to also recognise road accidents as a universal pandemic and start devoting the effort, resources, budget and data deserved for such a major global health problem.
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