Transport Unions In Nigeria To Establish Health Centers At Parks

Some transport unions in Lagos State have reiterated their plans to establish health centres in motor parks to ensure that their members are healthy.

Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede and Alhaji Musa Mohammed, Lagos State Chairmen of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers’ Association (RTEAN) made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Saturday.

They said the decision to establish the centres was prompted by a report of the Lagos State Government in 2015 that most commercial drivers diagnosed, had high blood pressure and other related diseases.

“We have always taken the health care of our members paramount and had been sensitizing them on their health as well as inviting health personnel at some of our gatherings to check their health status.

“We hope to build standard centers with qualified medical personnel to work in them,” Agbede said.

He said that the health centers would also help passengers because there were instances when pregnant women put to bed at the parks.

Mohammed, on his part, said that establishing the centers at motor parks was very `essential and important.’

He said that most commercial bus drivers found it difficult to create time and check their health at hospitals, but instead, preferred to take herbs and concoctions.

“RTEAN conducts routine health check on drivers; we hope to intensify regular check on drivers before they embark on journeys as this would help reduce accidents.

“Most accidents occurred due to fatigue or high blood pressure triggered by the deplorable condition of roads or longer hours on the wheels.

“The need for health centres is not only for our drivers, but also passengers; on many occasions, we attend to sick people or women going into labor at the park, so there is need for the centers,” Mohammed said.

Lagos State government last Thursday disclosed that over 99 per cent of commercial bus drivers are hypertensive. A condition, it said, could partly be attributed to the traffic congestion in the state.

Mr Dayo Mobereola, the State’s Commissioner for Transportation, who was represented at a forum by the Director of Transportation, Planning, Policy and Coordination, Dr Olufemi Salam, gave this indication.