On Thursday 16th August, 2018, the Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health (DCEH) held its first ever seminar series. Presenting their areas of interest, two PhD candidates on the floor put forward their proposals for much-needed critiquing from members of the academia present. Their areas of research will rotate around pedestrians and their interactions with road safety.
Jimmy Osuret intends to tackle children pedestrians' injury risk factors, coping mechanisms and the effectiveness of injury prevention programs in Uganda coupled with the implications for pedestrian intervention in Uganda.
Esther Bayiga intends to charge towards the effect of the built environment on pedestrian safety in the Ugandan setting.
The contextual framework for both proposals was laid majorly on the fact that road traffic accidents are among the top 10 global causes of injury with 22% of the deaths being pedestrians. Esther particularly cited Oporia et al, 2017, who revealed that zebra crossings are one of the most dangerous death spots for pedestrians. “So many interventions are being implemented without sufficient research data; this study seeks to be an answer to that research data”, explained Osuret, adding that the presenters in the seminar were also seeking views on the feasibility of the research, and therefore needed the seminar as a critique. The audience played that role quite superbly
NOTE: The two PhD candidates are recipients of funding support from the Collaboration for Evidence-Based Health Care and Public Health in Africa (CEBHA+) research network with a strong focus on road safety.
