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26 May 2023
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Uganda: Boat ambulance saving islanders
Uganda President Museveni launched marine ambulance services on Friday, 26 May 2023. The ambulances are to provide emergency medical response assistance and services to island areas in a move geared at improving the status of health care services. A total of four boat ambulances were delivered at the Marines Pier in Entebbe to support emergency medical services in the islands. The fleet will comprise of 14 boat ambulances to respond to health emergencies among the island communities.
The ambulances are equipped with all the necessary equipment including ventilators, surgical equipment and a team of medics.
A call for a medical emergency. It would take hours for a canoe to reach the patient but since this speed boat ambulance was acquired, the medics access the patients in minutes. Melon Ninsiima fell ill in the morning and like for many other pregnant women on the Islands, accessing a hospital is difficult and expensive. “I had failed to get transport but when i called them, the midwife here at Bwama, they arranged means to come and pick me” explains an expectant mother. From the farthest island, a patient needs at least two hours on a 15-horsepower engine boat to arrive at the health facility.
“That time has been cut short almost ten times, now it takes just a few minutes for a patient to come and seek medical treatment in time. And, this health centre serves seven sub-counties around Kabale district”.
The 300-horsepower engine boat ambulance docks at the Bwama Health Centre III on one of Lake Bunyonyi’s 29 islands in Uganda. On a given day, 50 patients can be attended to from here. “It is a matter of giving us a call at the health facility and we are able to pick them from wherever they are.”
But there is a question of sustainability for this costly service run by the Government.
Byakatonda Alex is the communications officer of the Kabale District Local Government, “The Ministry of Defence is going to be handling it for the next two years and thereafter it will be left entirely to the Ministry of Health and the fuel and its maintenance and everything is being done by the Ministry of Health”
With this boat ambulance, the cases of giving birth at home or in transit are going down. The district says they need six more such boats to accommodate the Islanders in need.
According to the World Health Organisation, in Uganda, the maternal mortality ratio per 100 000 live births is 284.
Sources: Ministry of Health - Uganda, Africa News
The ambulances are equipped with all the necessary equipment including ventilators, surgical equipment and a team of medics.
A call for a medical emergency. It would take hours for a canoe to reach the patient but since this speed boat ambulance was acquired, the medics access the patients in minutes. Melon Ninsiima fell ill in the morning and like for many other pregnant women on the Islands, accessing a hospital is difficult and expensive. “I had failed to get transport but when i called them, the midwife here at Bwama, they arranged means to come and pick me” explains an expectant mother. From the farthest island, a patient needs at least two hours on a 15-horsepower engine boat to arrive at the health facility.
“That time has been cut short almost ten times, now it takes just a few minutes for a patient to come and seek medical treatment in time. And, this health centre serves seven sub-counties around Kabale district”.
The 300-horsepower engine boat ambulance docks at the Bwama Health Centre III on one of Lake Bunyonyi’s 29 islands in Uganda. On a given day, 50 patients can be attended to from here. “It is a matter of giving us a call at the health facility and we are able to pick them from wherever they are.”
But there is a question of sustainability for this costly service run by the Government.
Byakatonda Alex is the communications officer of the Kabale District Local Government, “The Ministry of Defence is going to be handling it for the next two years and thereafter it will be left entirely to the Ministry of Health and the fuel and its maintenance and everything is being done by the Ministry of Health”
With this boat ambulance, the cases of giving birth at home or in transit are going down. The district says they need six more such boats to accommodate the Islanders in need.
According to the World Health Organisation, in Uganda, the maternal mortality ratio per 100 000 live births is 284.
Sources: Ministry of Health - Uganda, Africa News
