Child Injuries and Deaths from Road Traffic Incidents in Ghana: Informing Policy and Practice

Abstract

University of Washington ABSTRACTChild injuries and deaths from road traffic incidents in Ghana: informing policy and practice Sulemana Abdul-Matinue Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Caryl Feldacker, MPH, PhD Department of Global Health Background: Road traffic crashes are a major public health concern globally; low middle-income countries bear the greatest burden. The Sub-Saharan region accounts for 35.2% child deaths globally due to RTI. The burden of road traffic injuries in Ghana among children is alarming and impacts the lives of Ghanaian children. The world health organization announced a second Decade of Action to achieve their target of reducing RTCs by the year 2030. However, in Ghana, the decade of action is yet to yield any results. The study aimed to report on the annual fatal rates of road traffic injuries (RTI) and to describe the fatal and non-fatal patterns of road traffic crash characteristics among children under 15 years in Ghana from 2005-2020.Methods: We employ Ghana's Building and Roads Research Institute (BRRI) database which includes detailed information on each police reported Road Traffic Crashes (RTC), Road Traffic Injury (RTI), and Road Traffic Fatality (RTF) from 2005 to 2020 in Ghana as of 2022. Descriptive analysis of variables such as sex, vehicle type, gender, age, road conditions were analyzed. Crashes stratified as either injury or death and Chi square test used to determine the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Results: Pedestrian RTCs were the leading cause of injuries and deaths among these age groups over the last 16 years. It is coming down but remains the leading cause. The overall average road crash fatality was 3.35 per 100,000 population with children aged 10-14 group being the most affected. The number of males involved in road traffic crashes were more than females (p=0.001). The Highest proportion of childhood road traffic injuries and deaths were caused by cars including both children riding in cars that crashed, and children struck by cars. Good tar road conditions contributed to many road traffic crashes involving children (73.5%). Conclusion: This study showed overwhelming evidence of road traffic crashes on pedestrians, primarily males aged 10-14 years old. Targeted interventions aimed at improving the road environment, construction of speed bumps, sidewalks, overheard crossings, provision of safe playing and walking space for children and adolescents will help reduce the avoidable deaths on our roads.