The rising number of motorcycle accidents on the country’s roads have been described as an epidemic by Director of Kamuzu Central Hospital Dr Jonathan Ngoma.
The situation is so dire that 80 per cent of patients admitted in the Orthopedic Ward at the country’s main referral hospital Kamuzu Central (KCH) are motorcycle accident victims.
Said Ngoma; ”We are admitting so many patients here who are accident victims of motorcycles. In our orthopedic ward about 80 per cent of patients are victims of these accidents. I can describe this as an epidemic because of the frequency they are occurring. This is a huge problem because government spends a lot of money to buy medicines to bring back these patients to their normal status”.
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When The Atlas Malawi visited the orthopedic department at KCH, several patients and guardians described motorcyclists as agents of death or injuries.
One patient who was about to have his arm amputated described the motorcyclists as a ticking time bomb.
“They do not follow rules and regulations and just overtake vehicles in the main roads anyhow. They can overtake left or right with reckless abandon and something needs to be done,” said the man who only identified himself as Alfred.
Apart from the motorcycle accident victims Ngoma also claimed that they are admitting more patients because of alcohol abuse.
He claimed that some patients even die to overdrinking and asked the relevant authorities to do something on the matter.
“Some patients come here while in comma due to overdrinking. Some have even died and this is also an epidemic. IO urge those responsible on these things to take drastic measures to curb this problem,” claimed Ngoma.
In recent years the country has seen a proliferation of drinking places with some located even very close to schools and colleges.
