•Several youth are dying under very shocking circumstances
•A doctor at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital revealed this during interactions with GhanaWeb
•This formed part of Korle Bu's partnership with GhanaWeb on its road safety campaign
Ghana is losing most of its youth who fall within the economically vibrant age group.
This was revealed by a doctor at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
Dr. Frederick Kwarteng who is the Head of Department at the Accident, Emergency and Orthopaedics Unit at Korle Bu spoke to GhanaWeb’s Wonder Ami Hagan.
He revealed that the hospital, in recent times has received young people who come in with various disturbing conditions, some of which leaves them with life-changing abnormalities.
Speaking in a conversation as part of their partnership with the GhanaWebs Road Safety campaign team, Dr. Kwarteng said most of the patients who come in with severe injuries resultant of reckless motor riding, are youth.
The numbers he said, as compared to the aged and children are overwhelmingly disturbing.
In most cases, according to Dr. Kwarteng, about 30 to 35 people die from accidents at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital per quarter.
“In fact, when it comes to Road Traffic Accidents, our statistics indicate that the age group that are commonly affected are the young economically vibrant age group between the ages of 18-35. In fact, when it comes to Okada injuries, over 70% of them are youth between the ages of 17 to 25. The very elderly and the young ones also form a significant percentage but they are relatively smaller in terms of numbers than the youth,” he said.
Adding, “averagely, per a quarter, numbers range from 30 to 35 per a quarter and it is not static.”
Those who suffer major injuries that lead to other complications, he revealed, were mostly okada riders.
You can watch more startling revelations in the full interview here on GhanaWeb TV:
“It is important to caution people from Okada injuries because some head injuries produce multiple irreversible head injuries for which reason you can no longer live a normal life.
“Some of them come with blood in their head, others come with severe damage in their brain and others who come as a result of the head injury become permanently blind. We’ve had cases where they had injury in all parts of the body and broke all bones.
“The terrible situations are terrible. We had one who was crushed by a tipper truck and we had to remove his whole limb including the pelvic so now he has no buttocks to sit on,” he stated.
About GhanaWeb Road Safety Campaign:
The GhanaWeb Road Safety Campaign forms a part of the numerous projects GhanaWeb has rolled out as part of its 22nd-anniversary celebrations.
The year-long campaign dubbed #GhanaWebRoadSafety took off on Monday, March 1, 2021, and will focus on three key areas: indiscipline on roads; bad roads, and potholes that contribute to road accidents and absence of streetlights.
The campaign is being executed in partnership with major stakeholders including the Ghana Road Safety Commission, the Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Highway Authority, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the Ghana Fire Service, the Ghana National Ambulance Service and the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority.
The campaign is also spearheaded by musician and politician Bice Osei Kuffour (Obour) as the Ambassador.
Meanwhile, GhanaWeb among other things will, throughout the year, embark on media tours, organise special awards and recognition, embark on corporate social responsibility activities as part of its 22nd-anniversary celebration which was officially launched in Accra on February 15, 2021.
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