20100401
africanews

At least 400 children, mostly pedestrians, die in road accidents in Uganda every year, the Minister of Works and Transport has announced. 46% of those injured road accidents are urban children and it is twice the percent of falls and burns added together, according to the Injury Control Centre of Uganda report.

Another 1,200 people are severing with serious injuries in road accidents every year.

The ministry has said that this report makes children the most vulnerable to road accidents.

The numbers of road accidents are increasing each year, despite numerous government measures to reduce them. The road accidents in Uganda have killed about 21,807 people since 2000 while other 120,121 people are victims of accidents.

Engineer John Nasasira at the Ministry of Works and Transport said accidents were becoming as dangerous as malaria which kills an estimated 320 people in Uganda every day.

“In Uganda, road accidents have become a scourge equally of concern as HIV/Aids and malaria in terms of claiming lives and we need to do something before it’s too late,” Nasasira was quoted by local media.

Uganda is planning to halve on the road accidents in the next 10 years.