Under-reporting in Africa

Not all injury accidents are reported to and recorded by the Police

Estimates of the magnitude of road accidents and injuries in African countries are primarily obtained from police records. One of the main problems of national road accident data files is that not all injury accidents are reported to and recorded by the Police.

Under-reporting is an issue of general concern in Africa and affects the degree to which the statistical output of a country’s data system reveals the actual situation of road safety. Underreporting of fatality rates is a common issue in Africa. Tackling the underreporting drawback will allow consideration of road safety to extend beyond the current focus on fatal accidents.

Under-reporting of accidents varies according to severity, vehicle type and casualty age. Under-reporting is especially frequent in case of: singe-vehicle accidents, pedestrian accidents and accidents involving bicycles, mopeds or motorcycles.

Download the related factsheet to discover more on under-reporting in Africa

Resources

For additional information related to under-reporting of road accident in African countries.

• Abegaz, T., Berhane, Y., Worku, A., Assrat, A., & Assefa, A. (2014). Road Traffic Deaths and Injuries Are Under-Reported in Ethiopia: A Capture-Recapture Method. PLoS ONE, 9(7), e103001. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103001
• Magoola J, Kobusingye O, Bachani AM, Tumwesigye NM, Kimuli D, Paichadze N. Estimating road traffic injuries in Jinja district, Uganda, using the capture-recapture method. Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot. 2018 Feb 19:1-6. doi:10.1080/17457300.2018.1431934
• Samuel JC, Sankhulani E, Qureshi JS, Baloyi P, Thupi C, Lee CN, et al. (2012) Under-Reporting of Road Traffic Mortality in Developing Countries: Application of a Capture-Recapture Statistical Model to Refine Mortality Estimates. PLoS ONE 7(2): e31091. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0031091
• Sango HA, Testa J, Meda N, Contrand B, Traoré MS, Staccini P, Lagarde E. (2016) Mortality and Morbidity of Urban Road Traffic Crashes in Africa: Capture-Recapture Estimates in Bamako, Mali, 2012. PLoS One. 2016 Feb 12;11(2):e0149070. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149070
• Juillard C, Kouo Ngamby M, Ekeke Monono M, Etoundi Mballa GA, Dicker RA, Stevens KA, Hyder AA. Exploring data sources for road traffic injury in Cameroon: Collection and completeness of police records, newspaper reports, and a hospital trauma registry. Surgery. 2017 Dec;162(6S):S24-S31. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2017.01.025