Uganda commemorated the Fourth UN Global Road Safety Week with a call to Ugandan drivers to reduce speed on roads, respect road rules and signage as well as to be considerate to other road users.

Speed excites but kills and it is the leading cause of injuries we have the country today” said Honorable Aggrey Bagire the Minister of State for Transport Works. He was speaking at brief commemoration function held at the WHO Country Office in Kampala under the hash tag : save life; #slowdown.

According to Honorable Bagire, 20% of Uganda national budget is dedicated to infrastructure development out of which 80% is specifically for road construction. However, good roads have led to high speeds and unfortunately to many deaths due to accidents.

“It is a catch-22 for us. We want good roads because they contribute to national development but at the same time we are losing many people on these roads, he said. “In Uganda, we have many people driving on the roads but we have very few drivers” he added.

In mitigation, the government is strengthening enforcement of traffic laws, installing cameras and signage of all roads and rehabilitating and equipping all major hospital along all highways. “We are investing in road improvement and at the same time investing more money to reduce speed and treat the injured” the Minister noted.

The Acting WHO Representative in Uganda Dr Abodoulie Jack reported that one in three road traffic deaths in developed countries occurs because of speed. The situation is worse for low and middle income countries where one in two road traffic deaths is due to over speeding.

“This places an enormous strain on a country’s health care system, as well as on the national economy, he pointed out.  According to Dr Jack, on average road traffic injuries cost low- and middle-income countries one to three per cent of Gross National Product which is a significant impediment to development.

Fortunately, road traffic deaths and injuries can be prevented through building or modifying roads with features that slow down traffic, enforcing speed regulations and limits, installing speed control technologies in vehicles and raising awareness about the dangers of speeding. This resonates with the 2010 United Nations General Assembly resolution that declared the “Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011–2020).

WHO continues to work in a multi-sectoral manner advocating for road safety at the highest political levels, to compile and disseminate good practices and reports in addition to providing tools to evaluate the impact of Decade of Action for Road Safety. 

But controlling speed on the roads and hence reduce road traffic accidents and deaths require political will and huge financial investments. The presence of Honorable Aggrey Bagire at the brief but significant function at the WHO Country office is a clear indication that Uganda is indeed moving in the right direction.