Who is the African Youth Network on Road Safety

1. Emmergency Medical Care In Africa:-Why young people are the magic pill.Brian Kanaahe M.BilalVice President-African Youth Network On Road SafetyFirst Aid & Road Safety Advisor-Uganda Red Cross

2. Who is the African Youth Network on Road Safety • Formed in 2011, October 8th in Niamey Niger during the 1st African Youth Assembly on Road Safety • Was called for by and after formation of YOURS(which is a global youth movement on RS) in 2007 • Currently has 35 youth organizations in Africa dealing with road safety. And we still grow • Has been represented in the 2nd African Conference on Road Safety, Addis Ababa 2011 • Advocacy, Networks, Capacity building=Our work

3. Young lives, gone too soon • Sarah Mugisa (Rwanda), a former fourth year medical student and first born, was double disabled in a nasty accident in which their speeding university bus skidded and rolled over in 2009! Her mother has became speechless as a result of the trauma. • Andrew Onuoha (Nigeria) of Kent School died just before his ninth birthday. He was rushing home for to a party as he was coming from School.He died as a result of head injuries. • Ahmed Swaibu (Egypt), Motocyclist rider aged 26, from Cairo died near Freedom square when a speeding trailer failed to negotiate the corner and crashed him even when he was packed off the road in 2010! • Mrs Omoding Maria (Kenya), a single mother of 6 was paralysed in July 2011 when the taxi that he was sharing swerved across a lane and hit a pavement. What can you expect of her children? These are real people!

4. We know that • Cars can be replaced, people can’t. Prevention is a core value of any health system and undoubtedly so is Road safety. • At the global level, Road Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among people, aged 15-44 years old with 90% of road traffic deaths and injuries occurring in developing countries which have only 48% of the world's registered vehicles. • A significant economic, political, social and psychological road safety burden in developing countries is caused by time-sensitive avoidable accidents. • While the provision of timely and professional first aid during life-threatening emergencies is not a priority for many road safety actors in Africa, it makes a difference between life and death/disability

5. We know our challenges • The need to develop and/or strengthen emergency medical care systems in Africa. A strong focus is made on developing the capacity and providing an enabling environment of young people in emergency medical care to improve the health of populations and meeting expectations for access to emergency care. • Considering that our response time is usually above 10 minutes, prehospital emergency medical care in the community, during transportation, and at first contact and regional referral facilities. • Obstacles to developing effective emergency medical care include a lack of structural models, inappropriate training foci, concerns about cost, and sustainability in the face of a high demand for services for road accident victims

6. Case: Experience from Red Cross Youth • Empowering 140 young people in 20 Mbarara schools with basic but effective level of prehospital skill development has seen a 64% reduction in disabilities arising from poor handling of casualty in schools. • Reducing pain, promoting recovery, reducing disability rates and consequently improving the health of young people in Mbarara, Uganda (Mwebaze, 2012) • Embracing technology by developing a network of #iReporters who will tweet and activate emmergency system. • Continuous advocacy and awareness of road safety information to all road users • Speeding kills campaign (Uganda) • The youth caravan (West Africa)

7. We believe…that • Road crashes are preventable • Road safety is everybody’s concern • Road traffic accidents are not accidents • Providing prehospital care saves lives, prevents disability • Young people themselves who can be at the forefront of making a difference • Peer-to-peer communication in road safety is key

8. Conclusion • Road safety has been a neglected field and prehospital skill care has been left to the medical people who of course are not enough. • Road Safety is everybody’s concern and doesn’t discriminate as regards, race, relgion, socio-economic status or political beliefs. • Road Safety remains a silent, but sure disaster of which ‘small’ changes like promoting ‘basic emergency skill care’ coupled by behavioral shifts like putting on a helmet, avoiding speeding, seatbelt, avoiding drunk driving or under influence can make a big difference between life and death. • We are not dealing here with a disease that challenges our scientific knowledge, with a complex financial crisis, or with natural disaster that we are powerless to predict. What we are dealing with is roads which cut through villages, which lack cross points for children walking to school, and which are built to maximize car speed with scant regard for people.

9. Contacts YOURS- Youths for Road Safety Website: www.youthforroadsafety.org Brian Kanaahe Mwebaze Bilal :Africa-Region Communications Tel +256 782926851 Email: publichealthourconcern@gmail.com Twitter: @BrianBilalK1