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Background: In the early 2000s, electronic surveillance systems began to be developed to collect and transmit data on infectious diseases in low-income countries (LICs) in real-time using mobile technologies. Such surveillance systems, however, are still very rare in Africa. Among the non-infectious epidemics to be surveilled are road traffic injuries, which constitute major health events and are the fifth leading cause of mortality in Africa. This situation also prevails in Burkina Faso, whose capital city, Ouagadougou, is much afflicted by this burden. There is no surveillance system, but there have been occasional surveys, and media reports of fatal crashes are numerous and increasing in frequency. Objective: The objective of this article is to present the methodology and implementation of, and quality of results produced by, a prototype of a road traffic crash and trauma surveillance system in the city of Ouagadougou. Methods: A surveillance system was deployed in partnership with the National Police over a six-month period, from February to July 2015, across the entire city of Ouagadougou. Data were collected by all seven units of the city’s National Police road crash intervention service. They were equipped with geotracers that geolocalized the crash sites and sent their positions by SMS (short message service) to a surveillance platform developed using the open-source tool Ushahidi. Descriptive statistical analyses and spatial analyses (kernel density) were subsequently performed on the data collected. Results: The process of data collection by police officers functioned well. Researchers were able to validate the data collection on road crashes by comparing the number of entries in the platform against the number of reports completed by the crash intervention teams. In total, 873 crash scenes were recorded over 3 months. The system was accessible on the Internet for open consultation of the map of crash sites. Crash-concentration analyses were produced that identified ‘hot spots’ in the city. Nearly 80% of crashes involved two-wheeled vehicles. Crashes were more numerous at night and during rush hours. They occurred primarily at intersections with traffic lights. With regard to health impacts, half of the injured were under the age of 29 years, and 6 persons were killed. Conclusions: This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of developing simple surveillance systems, based on mHealth, in LICs.

La relation entre mobilité et extension urbaine a donné naissance à plusieurs modèles de ville. Les pratiques d’aménagement, fortement dépendantes de l’automobile, ont participé au processus d’étalement urbain caractéristique des pays du nord. Ce modèle observé également dans les capitales africaines repose toutefois sur des modes de déplacements très variés, sources d’une grande vulnérabilité pour les usagers et d’un nombre élevé de traumatismes issus des accidents de la route. Cet article vise à comprendre en quoi l’aménagement urbain participe de cette vulnérabilité dans la capitale du Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou. L’étude repose sur la géolocalisation des lieux d’accidents et des entrevues réalisées auprès des acteurs communaux. Les résultats montrent un lien fort entre étalement urbain et importance des accidents de la route de façon originale puisqu’ils sont caractéristiques des axes revêtus. Le développement de l’habitat est au coeur des politiques urbaines, la question de la mobilité est beaucoup plus récente, imposée par la croissance démographique. Cependant, la politique des transports en commun reste embryonnaire, le moyen de déplacement privilégié est le deux roues. Le pouvoir local ne semble pas avoir pour vocation de protéger les populations vulnérables en circulation, la valeur dominante en matière de conception du réseau routier reposant sous la garantie d’une mobilité toujours plus fluide et négligeant la sécurité routière. L’extension du réseau bitumé apparaît donc comme un facteur favorable à la multiplication des accidents de la route au Burkina Faso., The interconnection between mobility and urban expansion has given rise to many different city models. Urban development practices that are strongly automobile-dependent have contributed to the process of urban sprawl that is characteristic of Northern countries. This model is also seen in African capitals; however, there it is based on a wide variety of modes of transportation, a situation of great vulnerability for users and resulting in a high number of traumatic injuries from road accidents. The aim of this article is to understand how urban development contributes to this vulnerability in the capital city of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou. The study was based on geolocalization of crash sites and on interviews with local actors. The results showed, in an innovative way, a strong link between urban sprawl and amount of traffic crashes, as such accidents are typical of paved roadways.Residential development is the core focus of urban policies in Ouagadougou, with the issue of mobility being much more recent, imposed by demographic growth. However, because urban public transport policy is still in its early stages, most people still rely on two-wheeled vehicles for transportation. Local authorities do not appear to see the protection of vulnerable populations in traffic as their mandate. In designing the road network, their dominant preoccupation seems to centre on always ensuring faster flow, while road safety is neglected. The expansion of the paved road network thus appears to be a factor in increasing the number of road traumas in Burkina Faso.