It is now so clear that the Ministry of Health is planning to phase out all non-specialised ambulances in the country. These are the ‘ambulances’ mostly donated by politicians to their voters.
The moved is aimed at standardizing emergency medical rescue services in the country.
This was revealed by the PS Dr. Diana Atwine on Wednesday May 24, 2023 during the NRM manifesto week press conference, where the health sector made a presentation on what it has so far done in achieving the commitments made by the Government in the NRM 2021- 2026 manifesto.
At the even held at the President’s Office in Kampala, Atwine said the measure is in a bid to implement the recently announced National Emergency Medical Services (NEMS) policy.
If this measure is implemented, it would essentially mean all ambulances that are provided by many politicians, including MPS, would be unfit to be used for emergency rescue services in the country.
“If politicians are going to help us bridge the ambulance gap, they should come to us and we will give them the right specifications of ambulances to buy. We have no problem with ambulances, but a minibus with pictures, no. We don’t call those ambulances. They are just cars to pick people. We want to maintain the standard of what we call an ambulance,” she said.
