A total of 89 people died through motorcycle crashes in the Tamale Metropolis last year.
The records showed that out of the 89 persons who died, 73 of them died at the emergency unit on arrival, while 16 of them died on admission at Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH)during the same period
The Director of Medical Affairs at the TTH, Dr Adam Atiku who said this, mentioned that all the 89 people died from severe head injuries as a result motorcycle crashes.
Dr Atiku, was speaking during the 2021 Performance Review meeting by the hospital on Wednesday.
It was on the theme “Re-engineering TTH’s Health landscape for quality Tertiary Service Provision and Medical Tourism,” and brought together stakeholders in the health care value chain.
He lamented that motor crash in the region, particularly Tamale Metropolis was alarming and, therefore, advised the youth to always wear the crash helmet when riding.
The Medical Director said for the past three years, severe head injury, had always been among the top causes of death recorded at the facility
“When you look at our top five causes of deaths in Tamale, featuring prominently is, severe head injury,” he said
Dr Atiku stated that what was more worrisome was the fact that most of the affected people were those between the ages of 16 and 26 years.
“If you look at the data, most of them are between the ages of 18 and 26 years, so it means that we are losing a lot of our young people” he added
Dr Atiku touching on other matters of the hospital, the medical director said the hospital was planning to convert its COVID-19 Treatment Centre into an ultra-modern Infectious Disease Control Centre to help save the lives of the people.
He urged stakeholders to support the hospital to achieve its mandate of being a number one Tertiary health care provider in the northern sector.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the KomfoAnokye Teaching Hospital, DrOhenebaOwusuDanso, who was guest of the review meeting, called for an urgent intervention to deal with the issues of motorcycle crashes in the country.
He appealed to the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) and other stakeholders to put in measures to curb the menace.
Dr Danso stated that the rate at which the youth were involved in motorcycle accidents was alarming and must stop.
FROM ADAM ABDUL-FATAWU WUNIZOYA, TAMALE
