More Resources for Prevention, Critical Care or Rehabilitation

Abstract

Nearly a million people die each year and several millions sustain non-fatal injuries from road traffic accidents (RTAs) worldwide (27). Assuming the world population of 5.5 billion, this implies that approximately 2 out of 100 people die from injuries sustained in a traffic accident every year. And for each fatality about ten people are injured seriously enough to seek hospital treatment with at least three survivors ending up with a permanent physical impairment. RTAs ranked 9th among all causes of disease and injury burden in 1990, and are projected to rise to the 6th position by the year 2020 to be the 3rd biggest cause of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) globally (13). In developing regions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, road traffic accidents are expected to be the second leading cause of DALYs by the turn of the century. Despite this gloomy scenario, little efforts have been made to allocate sufficient resources to implement road safety interventions and to reduce the effects of traffic injuries in most African countries.