Capacitate community health workers to curb road traffic accidents

Lazarus Sauti

Mutoko – Nyakubaya Village in Mutoko was plunged into mourning recently following the tragic death of Stuart Katsomba, who was involved in a road accident between Shurugwi and Zvishavane, hundreds of kilometres away from his rural home.

Katsomba was with his wife and two children when the accident happened.

“His wife and one child survived with minor injuries, but the other child is admitted at Parirenyatwa and is in a critical condition,” said a relative and Nyakubaya village head, Musopi Kambarami, adding:

“It is sad, so sad that we are gathered here to mourn our beloved one who was swallowed by our roads.”

Statistics from the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) confirmed that our roads are indeed death traps.

According to the figures, a total of 12 832 people have been killed in road traffic accidents recorded across the country over the past seven years.

“96 961 people were injured in 247 472 road traffic accidents recorded between 2010 and 2016,” revealed the figures.

Data from TSCZ also showed that in 2010, 1 796 people died and 14 336 were injured in 26 841 road traffic accidents, while in 2011, 2001 people died and 15 305 were injured in 30 985 road traffic accidents recorded that year.

In 2012, a total of 2 094 lives were lost along with 14 965 people injured in 30 911 road traffic accidents, and in 2013, 1 787 people died at the same time as 14 131 were injured in 37 619 road traffic accidents recorded.

The figures also showed that a total of 1 692 people were killed while 14 010 others were injured in 41 016 road traffic accidents recorded in 2014, whereas in 2015, 1 762 people died and 12 822 were injured in 41 494 road traffic accidents recorded countrywide.

Last year, 1 700 lives perished and 11 392 people were injured in 38 606 road traffic accidents recorded nationwide.    

TSCZ managing director, Obio Chinyere, also said at least 930 people have been killed in 22 259 road traffic accidents recorded across the country between January and July this year.

“This figure shows a 15 percent increase in the number of total road deaths from the same period in 2016 when 806 people were killed in 22 591 incidents reported,” he said.

Speaking during a Road Traffic Gala organised by TSCZ recently, Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs, Mandi Chimene, said there are 28 deaths per every 10 000 registered vehicles in Zimbabwe.

She added that there is a traffic crash every 15 minutes in the country with an average of 45 people being injured per day and an average of five people being killed daily too.

As people whispered about Katsomba’s death, Kambarami emotionally said, “What pains most is the fact that our friend, our brother Stuart died due to lack of help.”

Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa, said hundreds of people in the country are dying in road traffic accidents every year due to lack of help within the “golden hour” – the first hour of the accident.

He also said most health facilities in the country are under-resourced, without adequate equipment as well as staff to cope with accident victims.

“Under-resourced health facilities, inadequate equipment and incapacitated health workers are seriously inhibiting the quality of response to road traffic accidents,” Dr Parirenyatwa said.

As for World Health Organisation (WHO) regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, impediments in providing care for those involved in road traffic accidents increase the severity of injuries; thus, stern measures are required to curb accidents and reduce road accident-induced costs.

“Zimbabwe,” said Chimene, “is losing over US$400 million every year to these road accident-induced costs.”

Dr Parirenyatwa, who now chairs the World Health Organisation general assembly, urged his government and other regional countries to capacitate community health workers.

“Capacitating community health workers and volunteers contribute to healthier, safer and more resilient communities,” he said.

Road safety expert, Sadrul Hasan Mazumder, however, said although community health workers contribute to better health outcomes by promoting health as well as providing primary health care, their role is not routinely recognised in Zimbabwe and other developing nations.

“Community health workers are critical players in managing road traffic accidents; they reduce risks as well as the impact of road traffic accidents by ensuring that many lives are saved in the first hour of emergencies before external help arrives, but their roles are not routinely recognised,” said Mazumder.

Sharing the same sentiments, community health worker, Sekai Muchetu, added that this lack of recognition is posing serious challenges for scaling-up community health workers’ role in saving lives.

Muchetu, therefore, urged the government to address challenges affecting community health workers simply by recognising, revitalising as well as strengthening their skills to manage road traffic accidents, a fact supported by Passengers Association of Zimbabwe (PAZ) president, Tafadzwa George Goliati, who also advised the government in Zimbabwe and other regional countries to take a leaf from South Africa and improve existing health systems by involving communities and health-care workers as well as educating them about accidents.

“The government,” said Goliati, “should mobilise the necessary resources to identify, train, supervise and equip community health workers to deliver essential primary health care and emergence health services.”

In one of its technical briefs, the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA) also said the government should identify and harmonise all strategies and training programmes aimed at strengthening community health workers.

“Development partners can also support the government to strengthen the capacity of community health workers by advocating for additional resources as well as supporting capacity building of community health workers to provide essential primary health care,” said GHWA.

Goliati also recommended transport owners to set up central mechanisms to monitor road traffic accidents around the clock as well as to inform the concerned authorities – a prerequisite for managing the “golden hour.”

Significantly, TSCZ Information, Communication and Technology Manager, Tatenda Chinoda, said the only form of empowering community health workers is to train them to educate others or to spread road safety awareness to the people they interface with everyday,” he said, adding:

“Knowledge is not enough without ancillary resources,” he said. “Consequently, community health workers must be provided with enabling resources such as literature and bicycles so as to effectively become road safety champions.”

Chinoda also said his organisation rides on existing government structures to cascade collective road safety consciousness to community health workers.

“Community health workers are a strategic resource in saving lives and as TSCZ, we have since entered into a memorandum of understanding with the authorities under the department of rural development to train village heads, chiefs and headmen to be road safety champions,” he said.

“This is working very well and Gwanda, Buhera, Mberengwa, Hwedza, Mudzi, and Makoni are some of the Districts which have benefited from this programme.”

Katsomba is no more. His family is still burdened by his death. But frankly, capacitating community health workers can save lives and lessen the burden related to road traffic accidents in the country.