The problem
The problem of the availability and reliability of data in African countries makes the knowledge of accident phenomena rather difficult. Moreover, the data tracking is entrusted to various institutional sources (national police, gendarmeries, hospitals), making the collection even more complex, above all due to the lack of a central body that carries out data collection. The project aimed to improve the present data collection (recording and reporting), by creating a centralised structure managed by the Centre for the Analysis of Road Safety (CASS) with headquarters at the École Nationale Supérieure des Travaux Publics (ENSTP) in Yaoundé (Cameroon).
Our approach
The involvement of the police forces and hospital staff in the towns of Yaoundé and Douala was vital for the realisation of an integrated structure, both in methodological and practical terms. The criterion adopted made it possible to:
- analyse the instruments being used at present for road accident data management;
- develop and implement a road safety database, powered by a centralised information system for the collection, management and analysis of data;
- develop an information system for the detailed analysis of road accident data and the choice of interventions to be carried out;
- train technicians and agents of the police forces on the use of the information systems and databases developed;
- train Ministry technicians in the field of road safety.
