Kampala, Uganda: The Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (JH-IIRU) and Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH) will launch the Status Summary Report 2023: Road Risk Factors for Kampala, Uganda, in partnership with Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and Vital Strategies.
The event, to be held at Hotel Africana in Kampala at 8:00 AM, will feature remarks and overviews from key contributors, offering valuable insights into the comprehensive document.
The Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS)-supported report provides information on speed and helmet use in Kampala, and it presents data-backed recommendations for authorities and road safety stakeholders to implement, which may ultimately reduce the number of crash-related injuries and deaths.
The document delineates notable findings, including:
- The mean speed of speeding vehicles remains high (57 km/h).
- Speeding was higher on roads partially accessible to pedestrians compared with roads freely accessible to pedestrians.
- Helmet use was low among motorcyclists and almost non-existent among passengers.
- Appropriate helmet use was less prevalent during the weekends.
The Roadside observations were conducted in collaboration with Makerere University’s Trauma, Injury, and Disability (TRIAD) Unit, and these encompassed six observation rounds where speed and helmet use were observed in over 500,000 and 600,000 instances, respectively.
“We know that the road to progress is paved with informed decision-making, and the Status Summary Report 2023 aims to provide road safety stakeholders with up-to-date, precise data on speeding and helmet use in Kampala. Creating a greater understanding of these risk factors’ intricate patterns is essential to the implementation of targeted interventions,” explained Dr. Abdulgafoor Bachani, Director of JH-IIRU.
“Road safety is an issue of concern to everyone. To improve this safety, we must have high-quality data on the risk factors and share it with our stakeholders. Most importantly, we need local stakeholders who are charged with making laws and policies for the country because this is a systems issue that calls for systems thinking. We must involve the locals to get the attention of the international said Dr. Fredrick oporia.
the local to get the attention of the international”, said Dr. Frederick Oporia, Head – TRIAD MakSPH
The report will be launched one month after the release of the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2023, which stated that there was a 5% global decline in road traffic deaths since 2010. Despite the reduction in road-related fatalities, informed, coordinated, and evidence-based interventions are still imperative to meet the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030’s target of halving road traffic deaths and injuries.