Nearly two million people die globally through motor accidents- WHO

Accra, Aug. 21, GNA - Nearly two million people die and others sustain various degrees of injuries globally, as a result of motor accidents, a World Health Organisation (WHO) report said on Friday. Road accident had also been identified by WHO as a major public health issue as well as a major factor responsible for deaths. Mr Bice Kwabena Kufuor, aka Obuor, a renowned Musician and a road safety campaign activist, said this at the launch of 'Save a Life with a Text Message' campaign, which forms part of activities marking the 10th Anniversary of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) in Accra. The campaign, a fund raising drive, aims at supporting road safety programmes nationwide. It would provide road safety updates and education via Short Message Service (SMS).

As part of the commitment towards the campaign, individuals were to text 'Save' to the short code 1947, which will attract GHC1.00. Mr Kufuor said the nation had lost a chunk of its productive youth and other prominent people due to road crashes, adding that, those deaths could have been avoided.

Giving figures to buttress his point, he said, in 2006 the nation lost about 165 million dollars representing about 1.6 per cent of Ghana's Gross Domestic Product.

"This means that, we can save as much we get as loans from donor countries if we help sell best road safety practices through well coordinated and sustained road user education", he said. Mr Kufuor said road safety was a shared and collective responsibility which should be a priority of all. Mr Noble John Appiah, Executive Director of NRSC, said the campaign was necessitated as a result of a nationwide research on how best to make travelling safe by reducing motor accidents. Comparing the period between April and June 2008 and 2009 second quarter report on motor crashes, he said, there had been an increase of about 20 per cent representing 2,362 and 3,220 cases. Mr Appiah said during the period, Eastern Region recorded the highest number of death with 65 cases, with Ashanti recording 59. Greater Accra and Volta regions recorded 47 and 35 respectively. He said Western Region recorded 31 deaths with Brong Ahafo recording 26 and the Northern Region, 24.

Mr Appiah said the Central Region recorded 18 deaths, while Upper East and Upper West recorded 13 and six respectively. He said: 'Motor crashes ought to be a great concern of all since it affects the nation's economic performance as well as its human resource. I therefore call on the public to support this worthy project.' Present at the launch was Traffic, a musical group, who composed a song for the project. 21 Aug. 09