ON Tuesday, the Adamawa State House of Assembly took the bold step of passing a bill that provides for the free treatment of accident and terror victims in government hospitals in the state. The bill, which abolished the requirement of obtaining police report before the treatment of such victims, defined accident victims as those involved in auto crashes, plane crashes and fire accidents. The bill further covers those affected by flood disasters, armed robbery attacks, snakebites, dogbites and rainstorm tragedies. According to the bill, “From the start of this law, the state shall provide free emergency treatment for all accident and terrorism victims within 24 hours of the occurrence of any such accident. All the drugs required for the treatment of the accident victims shall be provided free within the first 24 hours of the accident.All terrorism victims shall receive free medical care, drugs and counselling until full recovery.”
In addition, the bill established an Accident and Terror Victims Support Committee. The committee has a mandate to generate funds from the government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private individuals to realise its mandate. As highlighted in the bill, “The committee shall open and maintain a bank account known as Accident and Terror Victims Account, wherein all the funds realised from government and donor agencies shall be lodged. The committee shall be responsible for managing the account for the purpose of treatment and support of accident and terror victims, as the Commissioner for Health and Chairman, Hospital Services Management Board, should be signatories to the account.” The bill again provides that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in the state should assist in rescuing road traffic accident victims and taking them to any of the government hospitals. In doing this, the FRSC shall not be obliged to write any undertaking in any government-owned hospital before road accident victims are treated. On its part, the state government is to provide funds and logistics for the joint patrol of the Hospital Service Management Board and the FRSC in rescuing accident victims.
To all intents and purposes, the Adamawa law on free treatment of accident and terror victims represents an attempt to put the welfare of the people at the core of the operations of the state. The bill just passed into law is well thought out, well-researched and proactive. There is no doubt that it will go a long way in giving reprieve to the victims of road and air crashes in the state as well as all those within its purview. If only because of the dwindling revenue accruing to the states in recent times, the provision for support by non-state actors has the potentiality to make the law a resounding success.
As widely recognised by experts in the medical profession, road accidents constitute the biggest cause of mortality among Nigerian youths between ages 15 and 29. It also causes untold agonies among other age groups. Thus, any initiative aimed at addressing the menace ought to be encouraged. Indeed, as argued by the immediate past governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, every victim of road traffic accidents in the country must have universal, unfettered and unhindered access to care, especially in the first few hours. As he noted, doing this would entail leveraging on the Health Act and other innovative funding mechanisms. It is in this connection that we urge well-placed individuals in Adamawa State and even beyond to support the work of the Accident and Terror Victims Support Committee. This is important if only because accidents take no cognisance of social status and no one knows who the next victim may be.
In any case, accidents, even if mostly preventable, are a fact of life. And nobody saves towards an accident, whether on land, air or rail. In this connection, the new law in Adamawa State will help in saving the lives of accident victims, particularly those who, by virtue of their economic conditions, stand no chance of survival during casualty situations because of their financial handicap. By the same token, victims of terror attacks, if they manage to stay alive, often find themselves in terrible situations and only proactive and humanitarian gestures such as encapsulated in the new law in Adamawa State can provide them with some relief.
We therefore urge the Adamawa State government to do everything within its power to ensure that the law goes into full operation in the state, backed by the requisite dose of political will. We also encourage other states to take a cue from the initiative in Adamawa State and roll out intervention strategies designed to take care of accident victims within their respective jurisdictions. If this is done side by side with strict enforcement of traffic and environmental laws, as well as sensitisation programmes on safe travel, positive results will attend the initiative.