By Mrs. Toyin Ojora- Saraki, the Wife of the President of the Senate, Founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa and Chair of Nigeria’s Primary Health Care Revitalization Support Group today spoke out against the increase in road accidents in Nigeria, which have now reached a record high of 79,875 accidents in the last three years, according to the Economic Economic Confidential.
“Road safety is a Sustainable Development Goal which Nigeria is falling behind on, and must meet the target of reducing road traffic accidents by 50% by 2020. I commend the Federal Road Safety Commission who have been working tirelessly to reduce the amount of incidents that occur, through installing speed reducing technologies such as the Speed Limiting Device, and are swift in conveying accident victims to the nearest medical facility. However, we must do more.
I call on the Government of Nigeria to embrace health records and national health insurance for all, so the victims of road accidents can be identified and also medically treated as quickly as possible.” Mrs. Saraki noted.
Mrs. Saraki continued: “Last week, we donated for the emergency medical care of Iheoma, an elderly hit-and-run road accident victim in Kubwa General Hospital whose full identity could not be reliably ascertained, and whose family has not been successfully traced. This is a case in point, for the urgent need for certifiable identities, for every citizen through personal health records. Every single life lost counts, and we must treat it as so.”
“I also call on the communities to check the pictures of the victims and accidents on social media which will help the Federal Road Safety Commission to identify witnesses and families of victims.” ended Mrs. Saraki.
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