Prof. Isaac
Adewole, the Minister of Health has reiterated Federal Government’s commitment
toward reducing mortality and morbidity from road crashes in the country.
Adewole said this
when he received the Special Envoy of the Secretary General of United Nation on
Road Safety, Mr. Jean Todt, in Abuja.
He said that the
Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health would continue to
partner with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and other relevant
stakeholders towards realisation of the goals of the UN decade of Action on
road safety in Nigeria.
He pointed out that
some of the activities of the ministry are in line with the fifth pillar of the
UN Decade of action which includes establishing and developing a formal
training for paramedics in accredited institution in Nigeria.
This comes with
full curriculum and placement into scheme of service in the country, Prof
Adewole added.
He explained that
there is a fully equipped level 1 Trauma Centre at the National Hospital where
victims with complex injuries from Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) are treated.
According to him,
there is also an established National auto crash integrated data system
(NACRIS), which harmonises database of RTC in the country.
The Minister
further said that there is a development of National Policies on Emergency
Medical and National Ambulance Services in the country and that the ministry
has started the implementation of free treatment of victims within the first 24
hours of incident.
In his remark, Dr.
Osagie Ehanire, the Minister of State for Health, said that the FMOH has a
consolidated Emergency Medical Service on various highway corridors.
Ehanire observed
that a pilot of the scheme was undertaken on the Abuja/ Kaduna Highway corridor
during the closure of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport in April this
year.
Earlier, Mr. Jean
Todt, the Special Envoy of the Secretary General of United Nation (UN) on Road
Safety, expressed the need for Nigeria to enact a legislative act for road
users in the country, saying it would reduce accidents.
