Road accidents are the second leading cause of death and injuries in Angola, after malaria, with an estimated annual average of two thousand deaths.
Last week, 10 people died following an accident in Malanje province that involved a car and motorcyclists, contributing to the tragic statistics.
According to the specialist in occupational medicine and traffic, Rui Capo, from this Thursday until November 3rd, the vision, hearing and strength in the upper and lower limbs of 500 motorists from the provinces of Cuanza Sul, Cuanza Norte, Benguela, Huambo and Bié.
"We are going to assess vision, how the driver reacts to those brighter lights (...) it has been a major cause of accidents at night, we are going to assess hearing acuity, we are going to assess how much strength we have in our upper and lower limbs ", said the doctor in statements to Rádio Nacional de Angola.
Rui Capo informed that, at the same time, an inquiry will be carried out to find out which diseases have a direct impact on traffic safety.
"Uncontrolled high blood pressure can cause sudden cardiovascular events, which then result in major accidents, diabetes 'mellitus', for example, can reduce our visual ability, the so-called diabetic retinopathies, people who suffer, for example, from epilepsy, there's the issue of obstructive sleep apnea," he added.
The doctor defended greater rigor in the medical certificate, a document that in Angola is "merely formal".
"We all know how important it is to have a well-done assessment, because this guarantees traffic safety in terms of the driver's medical fitness", he stressed.
According to the doctor, in 2015, the first survey was carried out with 330 motorists in the province of Luanda, whose results were alarming.
"We found cases of arterial hypertension compatible with grade 3, which cause inability to drive. Of the approximately 330 motorists, 21 percent would be unfit to drive because of low visual acuity, hearing problems, poor hearing ability", he stressed.
In May, the commander-in-chief of the National Police, commissioner-general Arnaldo Carlos, said that the country records an average of 10,000 road accidents annually, with an average of 2,000 dead and 11,000 injured.
