India accounts for more than 11% of the global road accident fatalities: IRF

The road safety body has urged the government to include victims under health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat.

India accounts for more than 11 per cent of the global road accident fatalities, reveals the International Road Federation (IRF).

“Annually, about 1.47 lakh people get killed in road crashes in the country and more than 4.7 lakh people get injured. Many victims, however, do not receive timely and appropriate medical care. There are shortages of ambulances and trained staff, resulting in a delay of provision of first-aid and trauma care facilities for victims. All this leads to higher traffic accident fatality rates, especially in low-income countries,” K K Kapila, Chairman, IRF, in a statement issued recently, said.

The body has therefore urged the government to include road accident victims under its mega health insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, popularly known as Ayushman Bharat.

“The move will help reduce the number of road accident deaths. The IRF suggests that the funds for the scheme be derived from one-time tax on purchase of vehicles like trucks, buses and cars as well as imposing cess on petrol/diesel earmarked for this activity,” Kapila further said.

The IRF has also urged the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the National Highway Authority of India to include Rs 6,000 per km as an estimated fund for training of bystanders in first-aid and trauma care, as they are the first ones to respond to an accident.

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