Most drivers have high blood pressure and visual problems-report

 

At least 7.7 per cent of all drivers in the country are believed to
be visually impaired or have high blood pressure, according to the
examination whose findings were recently handed over to the national
traffic commander, Mohamed Mpinga.

 

Speaking at the event to submit the results, Dr Abel Musa from
Tumbi hospital said that about 438 drivers, 27 percent of the drivers
were found  with vision problem  and 12 percent were suffering from high
blood pressure.

 

“High blood pressure can easily cause stroke abruptly and prevent
drivers from taking control of the car, thus cause accident” said Dr
Musa.

 

He recommended that there should be an official form, signed by
specified doctor, which each driver must carry showing his or her health
status.

 

Dr. Johanes Rwenyangila, Laboratory Standards Officer from Morogoro
Regional hospital, on his part reported that at least 92 doctors out of
the 525 drivers that they examined tested positive of high blood
pressure.

 

Some 16 drivers, being about three percent of the drivers examined
had visual problems and a bout two percent of them use only one eye.

 

The examination was organized by Tanzania Breweries Limited aspart of the corporate social responsibility.

 

TBL corporate affairs and legal director Stephen Kilindo, said his
company realized how sensitive road safety was to the national growth,
and how road accidents had claimed the lives of many Tanzanians, hence
deciding to spend 40 millions shillings  for checking  health of 800
drivers.

 

“Our company knows that information is power, thus raising public
awareness on road safety regulations and traffic rules is a powerful
tool in preventing road carnage” he said.

 

He said, both hospitals had a target to test 400 drivers after it was realized that many drivers do not have time for checkups.

 

He said although his company brew and sell beer, they have been in
the frontline in the campaign for responsible drinking among their
customers.

 

Traffic police commander Mohamed Mpinga,  lauded TBL’s gesture of
being interested in road safety by supporting the police in the
awareness campaigns, and how it handled its fleets and drivers.

 

Citing an example of accidents that happened in Mtwara and Singida
in the past few weeks, he said that the data obtained by Tumbi and
Morogoro hospitals could be the reason behind those accidents.

 

However, he claimed that they are facing challenges like inadequate
facilities for measuring speed and intoxication for drivers, passengers
are also causing road accidents by defending evil drivers, especially
those who drive on high speed.

 

Mpinga promised to work on these data and advised the relevant
authorities and even Sumatra to have a system of testing drivers by
surprise.

 

He suggest that bus owners should make sure that drivers have
tested their health before they give jobs to them, the handing over was
done at the traffic police headquarters in Dar es Salaam on Friday.