Government of Zimbabwe is set to introduce a Motor Vehicle Accident fund to ensure emergency treatment of accident victims to minimize physical and psychological trauma, a senior government official has said.
By Faith Zvorufura
Officiating at the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund consultative meeting in Harare, Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development, Engineer Michael Madanha said the establishment of the fund will ensure that there is appropriate emergency treatment while minimizing both physical and psychological trauma for those involved in road traffic accidents.
“Government has noted with concern the challenges that arise in the post-crash phase, key amongst these are delays experienced in securing rescue ambulance services as well as challenges related to getting the injured admitted in hospitals, in this regard it should be appreciated that emergency medical services organizations need to recover costs for them to remain operational,” said Engineer Madanha.
He said the idea of setting up a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund is in line with the dictates of the United Nations Decade of Road Safety Action implementation program.
Madanha added that a lot of accident victims who are not on medical insurances suffer due to hesitation by emergency rescue providers and medical fraternities in responding to accidents as they grapple with the question of how such services will be paid for.
Statistics reveal that accidents occur every 15 minutes and about 5 people die every day.
