Botswana second only to SA in road fatalities
Maranyane Ngwanaamotho | Tuesday March 18, 2014 11:45
Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Parliament on Friday, Seakgosing said that it was for this reason that his ministry has committed to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety and the national road safety strategy so as to reduce fatalities.
To that end, Seakgosing said that the ministry has established emergency medical services in Mahalapye, Francistown and Gaborone.
“This is in response to the burden of the high incidence of deaths and disabilities resulting from road crashes. Roll out to other places will be done in a phased approach with an ultimate goal of covering the whole country,” he said.
He said these ambulance services provide out of hospital emergency medical care and transportation of patients with illnesses and injuries that require quick response.
A partner in this initiative, the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund records show that fatalities per 100,000 population rose from 9.9 to 20.2 in between 1981 and 2012. In the last year of recording, there were 6,035 casualties and 404 fatalities.