African roads the world’s deadliest

Although Africa has just 2% of the world’s registered vehicles, it accounts for almost 20% of road traffic deaths, according to the Status Report on Road Safety in Countries of the WHO African Region, 2009 published by the World Health Organisation. In 2007, over 234 700 people were estimated to have died on roads in the African Region, most of them aged between five and 44 years, according to Luis Gomes Sambo, regional director of the WTO African office. Globally, more than 1.2 million people are killed on roads annually, and up to 50 million more are injured or disabled. Truck drivers using Africa’s roads for business are not likely to see the risks of accidents reducing in the short to medium term, according to the report.