ICZ, HEMS partner for festive season road safety drive
Staff Writer
The Insurance Council of Zimbabwe (ICZ), in partnership with Highway Emergency Services (HEMS), has launched a festive season road safety campaign that will see 10 dedicated ambulances deployed along major highways nationwide to respond to road traffic accidents during the peak holiday period.
The initiative is part of the festive season road safety campaign being spearheaded by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe and parent Ministry, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development, and several other partners.
Speaking at the launch in Goromonzi district, Mashonaland East, ICZ vice chairperson Alice Shumba said the initiative was part of the insurance industry’s broader social responsibility and disaster preparedness efforts, anchored in national development priorities.
“Building on this foundation, ICZ, in partnership with Highway Emergency Services (HEMS), has committed to deploy 10 dedicated ambulances across major highways nationwide, specifically to respond to road traffic accidents during the festive period,” said Shumba.
She said the ambulances would be strategically positioned in corridors identified as high-accident zones, particularly in areas with limited access to emergency medical services.
“In deploying these ambulances, ICZ has deliberately positioned them across corridors and locations that have been mapped as high-accident zones… This strategic placement is critical in reducing response times, especially during peak festive traffic,” she said.
Shumba said rapid response was crucial, noting that “the golden hour—the first sixty minutes following a serious road traffic accident—is often decisive in determining survival and long-term outcomes for victims.”
She said the deployment was fully integrated with ICZ’s nationwide emergency call centre, 591, which will operate around the clock throughout the festive season.
“One flagship initiative is the integrated nationwide emergency call centre, 591… I am pleased to confirm that the 591 platform will operate 24 hours a day throughout the festive season, enabling seamless coordination between emergency responders, law enforcement, and medical services when it matters most,” she said.
Emergency assistance, she added, could be activated through the 591 call centre, Zimbabwe Republic Police hotlines or HEMS phone lines, with information shared instantly to dispatch the nearest ambulance.
“These ambulances will attend to all road accident victims—insured and uninsured alike… when accidents occur, saving lives must come first,” said Shumba.
She expressed ICZ’s appreciation to Government for co-opting the insurance industry into the campaign, acknowledging the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development for their leadership.
“The coordination we are witnessing today—between policymakers, law enforcement, infrastructure agencies and the private sector—is a powerful demonstration of Government’s resolve to safeguard the lives of Zimbabweans,” she said. Shumba said Government’s focus on road safety, highway upgrades and the integration of by-passes under the National Development Strategy was “timely and commendable,” adding that such investments reduced preventable loss of life and property.
She described the initiative as ICZ’s “Public Good Christmas Gift to the nation,” adding that insurers were “not only risk carriers but also committed partners in national development and public safety.”
Shumba also appealed for greater public awareness of the 591 emergency number, calling for its visibility at ports of entry and toll gates.
“A life-saving number is only effective if people know it exists… This is not an insurance message—it is a national safety message,” she said.
