Professor Stephen Tabiri, Dean of School of Medicine, University for Development Studies (UDS), has advised motor riders to wear helmets to reduce the chances of sustaining serious head injuries.
Professor Tabiri gave the advice during awareness creation on wearing of helmet organised by UDS in collaboration with the Fogarty Injury Research Project, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Tamale Teaching Hospital at the Sagnarigu Chief Palace.
He said, “When crashes occur, motorcyclists need adequate head protection to prevent one of the leading causes of deaths and disability in Ghana, head injuries.”
Mr Francis Afukaar, Chief Research Scientist at Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Building of Road Research Institute, said research showed that in 2010, helmet wearing in the northern sector increased to 30 per cent, but in 2022, it decreased to 20%.
Sergeant Mohammed Kamal-Deen, Northern Regional Commander of the Motor Transport and Traffic Department of the Ghana Police Service, appealed to traditional, opinion, and religious leaders to support the advocacy campaign on helmet wearing in the northern sector to save more lives.
Mr Bawa Gamsah, Northern Regional Director, National Road Safety Authority, entreated parents not to allow under-age children to ride motorcycles on their own as it often resulted in crashes with disastrous consequences.
Professor Charles Mock, Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington, urged the media, members of the public, especially motorcyclists to support the awareness campaign on helmet wearing by using their social media handles to spread the message.
Traditional and Opinion Leaders of Sagnarigu also pledged their support towards the helmet wearing awareness advocacy in northern Ghana.
