Abstract:
Transport facilitates socio-economic and political development of every
country. In spite of its role in the development of nations, transport has also been
identified as a means of spreading some communicable diseases where there are
inadequate measures to prevent such spread. Preparedness is facilitated by
people’s awareness of the existence of these communicable diseases, and their
attitude also play a key role in preventing such diseases from spreading. This
study sought to explore the views of transport operators and passengers on the
spread of communicable diseases on the public road transport system in Accra,
Ghana. Qualitative research methods in the form of in-depth interviews and
observations were adopted for data collection. Qualitative analysis in the form of
thematic analysis was used to analyse data collected from the field. The study
concluded that, at least some section of transport operators, as well as passengers
are aware of the possibility of spreading communicable diseases in the public road
transport system but are not very conscious of this fact, therefore they do behave
in ways that could increase the risk of spread of diseases through their daily
transport activities. However, the study also showed that some transport operators
and passengers are prepared to adopt preventive measures to make the use of
public transport as safe as possible. The study recommends strict adherence to
international acceptable standards in the construction and arrangement of seats on
passenger vehicles to avoid overcrowding.
