From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:ZIMBABWE: ACCIDENTS HIGH, BLOOD SUPPLIES LOW
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 22:02:27 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: ZIMBABWE: ACCIDENTS HIGH, BLOOD SUPPLIES LOW


an inter press service feature

by tafadzwa matimba-mumba

harare, dec 18 (ips) -- for many christians worldwide,
christmas is a time of joy, merry-making and festivity.

but alongside the christmas message of love, peace and
happiness, zimbabweans are being called upon to 'give the gift
of life' by donating a pint of blood -- a gruesome reminder of
the loss of lives on zimbabwe's roads each christmas.

christmas in zimbabwe is a time of travelling long distances
to unite with family members often in rural areas. at year-end,
many workers also receive their annual bonuses -- a financial
'thank you' from their companies for the year's work.

''the accident rate over christmas is very high and this is
mainly because of beer drinking and excitement'', benson
chigama, director-technical and operations at the zimbabwe
traffic safety board (ztsb) told ips.

''you find people get excited over this period because they
have a lot more money than they normally have during the year
because of the bonuses. instead of concentrating on driving,
therefore most people will be excited about how to spend their
money and get involved in accidents'', he adds.

the amount of blood donated to the blood transfusion
service (bts) has been decreasing, with 84,000 donations in the
1990-91 year, compared with 75,000 in 1991-92.

''there is a general decline in blood donors because of fear
of aids (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) and hiv (human
immuno-deficiency virus)'', david mvere, deputy director
technical at the bts says.

''people are reluctant to come forward because they don't
want to know their hiv status'', he adds.

but the number of road accidents has increased since
independence in 1980 when of the 15,617 road accidents,
1,140 people died and 9,578 were injured.

according to the ztsb, 1,124 people died and 12,701 were
injured seriously in the 25,033 accidents that occured in 1991.
road accidents alone claimed 34 lives and 220 injuries in the
period 21 to 26 dec. 1991. (more/ips)


zimbabwe: blood (2)

''over 50 percent of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists
involved in road accidents are found to have consumed some
alcohol''. over the christmas period, adds chigama, this
increases to about 80 percent.

apart from surgery, blood donated also is needed during
childbirth, for burns, haemophilliacs, trauma due to accidents,
anemia and malaria cases.

at the moment, blood supplies at the bts, the coubntry's sole
blood collection unit have hit an all time low, with only a
third of the 2,000 units required at any one time still in
stock, mvere says.

''the bts needs about 200 units units a day if they are to
meet the country's daily needs.

''during the christmas period, blood needs go up because of
the number of road accidents, yet we are very, very low in
supply at the moment'', says mvere.

today, zimbabwe has 400,000 vehicles on the roads, up from
300,000 in 1980. but about 123,000 cars are written off each
year through road accidents.

''the high concerntration of cars on the road is one of the
main causes of road accidents. some of these vihecles are
defective as there are no spare parts especially if they come
from botswana and south africa'', chigama says.

with the incidence of the hiv, the bts has moved donor focus
to the low-risk 18-20 year-old school-children. but with the
closure of schools for the annual christmas holidays, supplies
are still coming up short.

on the other hand, the stage is set to try and reduce road
carnage. according to chigama, motororist, pedestrian and
cyclists educational programmes are being conducted countrywide.

speedtraps will also be set up over the festive season as
will police posts ready for breathaliser tests.

''if we slow down our road campaign, our road users will
forget, but if we have this constant reminder about road safety,
surely it will have some effect on reducing carnage'', chigama
says. (end/ips/tm-m/oa/92)