The network

A French–African team on crashes and injuries

Road crashes are a major and neglected public health problem in Africa. The network conducts intervention research to measure this burden and reduce it.

Network countries in Africa (blue) and main study sites (red). The network also has members in France, including French Guiana, and Canada.

Objectives

Design and develop surveillance systems for road crashes and injuries, using police, gendarmerie, rescue-service and hospital data.
Transfer knowledge to road safety stakeholders and decision-makers, in particular through policy briefs.
Evaluate interventions: road safety education in schools, helmet use, care of the injured.

Countries

BeninBurkina FasoCôte d'IvoireMaliSenegalTogoRepublic of the CongoFrance (including French Guiana)Canada

Membership

The network has 24 members from complementary disciplines: transport and health geography, public health, epidemiology, trauma medicine, neurology, economics, socio-anthropology and political science. Teams combine quantitative and qualitative methods.

History

2018 – 2022
GDRI Sud Trauma IRD
International research group supported by IRD. Research teams, NGOs and consultancies from Burkina Faso, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Canada and France.
2019 – 2021
TRAFIC ANR MRSEI
Trauma Research and Intervention Network in West Africa: building a multidisciplinary European and African network.
2022 – 2026
IRN Sud TRAUMA IRD
International research network. It extends to Senegal and the Republic of the Congo with the STARTs and SECUBRA projects.

National teams

Benin

Assessment of the “Projet Asphaltage Phase 1” road-paving programme in Abomey-Calavi and Cotonou (road-user behaviour, crashes, residents’ daily life); studies on disability and return to work after motorcycle crashes.

Burkina Faso

Helmet-use count in Ouagadougou (2024) and study of road safety education and the role of parents in Bobo-Dioulasso (2023).

Côte d'Ivoire

SERIOUS project: crash surveillance prototype in Bouaké and on northern roads, developed with OSER and intended to be scaled up nationally.

Senegal

STARTs project: road crash and injury surveillance in Saint-Louis, Thiès and Kaolack since December 2024, including analysis of crash causes.

Next steps

Publish a second volume of the book “Les traumatismes routiers en Afrique : l’épidémie oubliée”.
Run a joint study on road safety education: short animated films for primary pupils, evaluated through a randomised trial in schools in Senegal, with teacher training. A preparatory phase in Bouaké gave encouraging results.
Make a 20-minute documentary on crash surveillance and care of the injured across the network’s countries.
Extend partnerships and field sites, notably to the Congo and Tanzania.