Browsing by Author "Namatovu, Stellah"

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    Estimating the burden of road traffic crashes in Uganda using police and health sector data sources
    (Injury prevention, 2021) Muni, Kennedy Maring; Ningwa, Albert; Osuret, Jimmy; Bayiga Zziwa, Esther; Namatovu, Stellah; Biribawa, Claire; Nakafeero, Mary; Mutto, Milton; Guwatudde, David; Kyamanywa, Patrick; Kobusingye, Olive
    d In many low-income countries, estimates of road injury burden are derived from police reports, and may not represent the complete picture of the burden in these countries. As a result, WHO and the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Project often use complex models to generate country-specific estimates. Although such estimates inform prevention targets, they may be limited by the incompleteness of the data and the assumptions used in the models. In this crosssectional study, we provide an alternative approach to estimating road traffic injury burden for Uganda for the year 2016 using data from multiple data sources (the police, health facilities and mortuaries). Methods A digitised data collection tool was used to extract crash and injury information from files in 32 police stations, 31 health facilities and 4 mortuaries in Uganda. We estimated crash and injury burden using weights generated as inverse of the product of the probabilities of selection of police regions and stations. Results We estimated that 25 729 crashes occurred on Ugandan roads in 2016, involving 59 077 individuals with 7558 fatalities. This is more than twice the number of fatalities reported by the police for 2016 (3502) but lower than the estimate from the 2018 Global Status Report (12 036). Pedestrians accounted for the greatest proportion of the fatalities 2455 (32.5%), followed by motorcyclists 1357 (18%). Conclusions Using both police and health sector data gives more robust estimates for the road traffic burden in Uganda than using either source alone.
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    State of pedestrian road safety in Uganda: a qualitative study of existing interventions
    (African Health Sciences, 2021) Osuret, Jimmy; Namatovu, Stellah; Biribawa, Claire; Balugaba, Bonny Enock; Bayiga Zziwa, Esther; Muni, Kennedy; Ningwa, Albert; Oporia, Frederick; Mutto, Milton; Kyamanywa, Patrick; Guwatudde, David; Kobusingye, Olive
    Pedestrians in Uganda account for 40% of road traffic fatalities and 25% of serious injuries annually. We explored the current pedestrian road traffic injury interventions in Uganda to understand why pedestrian injuries and deaths continue despite the presence of interventions. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study that involved a desk review of road safety policy, regulatory documents, and reports. We supplemented the document review with 14 key informant interviews and 4 focus group discussions with participants involved in road safety. Qualitative thematic content analysis was done using ATLAS. ti 7 software. Results: Five thematic topics emerged. Specifically, Uganda had a Non-Motorized Transport Policy whose implementation revealed several gaps. The needs of pedestrians and contextual evidence were ignored in road systems. The key programmatic challenges in pedestrian road safety management included inadequate funding, lack of political support, and lack of stakeholder collaboration. There was no evidence of plans for monitoring and evaluation of the various pedestrian road safety interventions. Conclusion: The research revealed low prioritization of pedestrian needs in the design, implementation, and evaluation of pedestrian road safety interventions. Addressing Uganda’s pedestrian needs requires concerted efforts to coordinate all road safety activities, political commitment, and budgetary support at all levels.
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    State of pedestrian road safety in Uganda: are interventions failing or absent?
    (Research Square, 2019) Osuret, Jimmy; Namatovu, Stellah; Biribawa, Claire; Balugaba, Bonny E.; Bayiga Zziwa, Esther; Muni, Kennedy; Ningwa, Albert; Oporia, Frederick; Mutto, Milton; Kyamanywa, Patrick; Guwatudde, David; Kobusingye, Olive
    Background In Uganda, pedestrians are the most frequently injured category of road users, accounting for 40% of road traffic fatalities and 25% of serious injuries every year. There is paucity of information on existing pedestrian interventions and challenges that affect their implementation in Uganda. In this paper, we ascertain the state of pedestrian road safety interventions in Uganda and explore the challenges in the process of design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of existing interventions. Methods We conducted a qualitative study that started with a desk review of existing policy documents, police statistics, media reports, non-governmental organization reports, and published research. We supplemented the review with 14 key informant interviews and 4 focus group discussions. Participants were drawn from various agencies and stakeholders responsible for road safety. In total, we collected and synthesized data on the design, implementation, and evaluation of pedestrian safety interventions from 25 documents. Data were analyzed using qualitative thematic content analysis. Results The National Road Safety Council within the Ministry of Works and Transport is the lead agency tasked with coordinating all road safety efforts, while the Uganda Police is largely engaged in enforcing pedestrian safety. We identified several existing policies and regulations for pedestrian safety like the Non- Motorized Transport policy whose implementation has been inadequate. Implementation is constrained by weak institutional capacity and limited resources. Moreover, road safety stakeholders operated in silos and this hindered efforts to coordinate pedestrian safety activities. Interventions like road designs were implemented with limited reference to any supporting data and therefore did not cater for pedestrian needs. Conclusion There are interventions targeting pedestrian safety in Uganda, but effective implementation is lacking or failing due to constraints related to weak institutional capacity. This necessitates strategies to mobilize resources to strengthen the capacity of the lead agency to effectively coordinate road safety interventions.