"Road deaths and injuries are becoming a new health emergency for Africa. The human and economic cost is growing”.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Nobel Peace Prize winner

Malawi ranked 3rd in Africa in terms of Road traffic Accidents after Nigeria and Ethiopia due to careless driving and lack of First-Aid Drivers Orientation Programmes.
National Road Safety Council of Malawi  (NRSCM) - Third African Road Safety Congress 1997

In Nigeria, First Aid casualty handling training would be targeted at residents of accident prone areas and it is specially aimed at helping such people to act promptly during emergencies without waiting for members of the Federal road safety Commission Corps (FRSC). This proactive initiative involving direct engagement of the public in joint humanitarian and road safety activities are the kind of collaborative efforts we want to promote, FRSC is prepared to collaborate with some technical consultants, state governments, private sector and the general public towards attaining its goals.

Mr. Osita Chidoka, the new Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission Corps (FRSC). Source: Keynote address at the Zonal RS 11 Special Marshal Zonal Workshop.
Tide newspapers 7 Nov 2007

Deaths and injuries on the roads is one epidemic plaguing Africa. Although most lead road safety agencies are increasing their efforts on road safety, there are sound reasons NGOs, private sector participants and individuals should do more because studies have shown that in caring for accident victims, the National road safety agencies have probably reached their maximum within available resources and the number of accident victims who die before officers of these agencies intervene is naturally still high.

The idea of first aid for road users has support far and wide and is being promoted worldwide. Although National Road Safety Agencies and Red Cross and Crescent Societies in Africa have been actively involved in First Aid programmes, increasing the scope and encouraging the use of first Aid by drivers on roads can do much because everyday, many lives are lost and many more people suffer unnecessarily since they are not provided with adequate and timely assistance.

According to a report of research and consultation with experts for over four years by a Nigerian road safety NGO (PATVORA), “lack of FA administration is the primary reason people die on the spot of road crashes in Africa and inability to tackle the immediate needs of road accident victims remains a major problem but seventy percent of drivers who were explained FA expressed desire to learn and carry the kits”.

Presently, studies show that in most countries in the African continent, 50% of deaths on the spot of road crashes are associated with lack of first help. Therefore, FA should not be an option, it should be a key safety feature in all vehicles because the benefits are obvious and standardizing the use of FA will cut fatalities that occur on the spot of road crashes by at least 60%. FA for road users is a measure which would positively contribute to meeting the target proposed by most African countries - 50% reduction of road traffic fatalities by 2010. As a consequence, the Carry FAb advocacy strongly believes that the situation of deaths on the roads of Africa could significantly change if more people were trained in First Aid and carry First Aids kits in their vehicles.

It would cost vehicle manufacturers less than 15USD per vehicle to fit a FA Box in their cars as a standard feature, unfortunately, most African countries are yet car manufacturing. Carrying FAB in cars as a standard addition to existing safety gadgets like fire extinguisher which is mandatory would cost drivers less than 20USD, yet because most road users have no or limited knowledge of FA, FAB are not available in cars.

Indeed, the sentiments behind FA training for road users are right given the growing number of preventable deaths on the roads of Africa and there is no doubt that the endorsement of FA programmes for road users by major global road safety agencies like, IFRC, UNECE, Global Road Safety Partnership-GRSP would help reduce deaths on the spots of road crashes in Africa.

The implementation of national FA programmes in African countries is in line with the endorsement of meeting of experts and it can turn potentially serious road crash victims into survivors and could save many lives on African roads. A proper implementation will result in more effective way of handling rescue operations for crash victims than if any of the National road safety agencies acted on their own. However, one way to make a national FA programme work, is to ensure that people understand the benefits before enforcement because lack of awareness is one major reason why known and tested interventions on road safety fail in Africa.

Achieving success on this requires leadership on the part of national road safety agencies. The Carry! FAb advocacy is a wake up call on respective National road safety agencies in Africa. In countries without a National Road Safety agency or where the National agency delays implementation of an FA programmes, Carry! FAb advocacy encourages passengers of public transport not to wait for First Aid legislation before requesting drivers to take the sensible route to saving lives. Carry! FAb advocacy relies on the high volume of public transport passengers in Africa to make the voluntary choice by using their clout to ensure that they refuse to patronize any vehicle without an FAB.

Now that you know the importance of first Aid and of having a first Aid box for your car- you can take the time to connect with others. Read about, how you can get involved and share your interest in First Aid.