By Ndidi Chukwu
The Federal Ministry of Health will collaborate with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to take emergency management of road accidents in the country to a new level.
Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire disclosed this when he received FRSC delegation led by Corps Marshall Boboye Oyeyemi, who paid advocacy visit at the Federal Ministry of Health headquarters in Abuja.
The minister stated that accidents and loss of lives had disastrous effect on the economy of the affected families and multiplying effect on the country’s economy in general, saying all stakeholders must come on board to ensure prevention and rapid response to road accidents.
Dr. Enahire therefore urged the Corps Marshall to scale-up his effort by taking measures to ensure that persons who apply for driver’s license for the first time should be made to undergo a ‘First Aid course’ before being issued the license.
He said: “The vehicle inspection sector should be revamped; a positive attitudinal change on collection and management of data on road accidents should be encouraged; and the FRSC should set up accidents review panels who should constantly educate the public on causes of accidents and how to avoid them.”
Earlier, Mr. Oyeyemi informed the minister that high speed had been identified as a key risk factor in road transport crashes. He added that the proposed installation of speed limiters is timely and the most cost effective ways to involuntarily restrain drivers from over speeding.
He stressed that speed limiters were beneficial to car users in terms of directly controlling speed, fuel economy and aiding other safety devices in a car to work optimally.
