Road traffic injuries in Namibia: health services, public health and the motor vehicle accident fund

Abstract

Namibia is one of five countries in sub-Saharan Africa that has a fuel tax levy designed to support road injury victims. This study examines how the scheme operates from the perspective of seriously injured or permanently disabled beneficiaries. Using qualitative methods, we conducted semi-structured interviews with RTI survivors in Namibia, and healthcare workers involved in caring for them, in order to investigate the role played by the MVAF. While some wealthier drivers continue to buy private insurance, most Namibians now rely on the MVAF. The analysis show the MVAF is effectively helping to enhance access to rehabilitation and other health services for RTI survivors. There however exist some weaknesses in the system which can be addressed. It is hoped these findings will contribute to discussions about whether the current system is fit for purpose and could serve as a replicable model in other low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Keywords:

• Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVAF)
• motor third-party liability (MTPL)
• Namibia
• Road Traffic Injuries (RTI)
• Disability

Ethics

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval was obtained from both the University College London Ethics Committee (No: 7417/001) and the Ministry of Health and Social Services in Namibia (No. 17/3/3).

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available in the (Chatukuta: 2019, UCL depository).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding

This research was part of a privately funded PhD.

Authors' contributions

MC conducted and analysed the qualitative data and was the main author in writing the manuscript. NG, JSM and MK all contributed to writing up and editing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.