Minister of Health Abdullah Nazim Ibrahim has said that an additional 31 ambulances will be delivered to various islands this year. This forms part of a government initiative to strengthen the health centers across country with adequate resources.
The minister emphasised that providing ambulances to all islands is a key priority for the administration’s mandate for the health sector and that there is notable progress for this endeavor.
The government has recently delivered 56 ambulances. And more are planned for delivery in two phases within this month. In addition to this, paramedic ambulances are being sought to be delivered to islands with a large residentials base.
“Ambulances will be sent to 14 islands next week. And 17 more islands will be covered at the end of the month. Furthermore, we will acquire paramedic ambulances for cities or island with large residential populations”, Minister Nazim stated.
The Minister also provided an update on the government’s efforts to upgrade existing healthcare facilities. In this regard, he said, 170 projects are ongoing to develop existing facilities or procure resources. The government, in collaboration with the State Trading Organisation (STO) has initiated a USD 12.3 million project to procure the necessary resources.
The conclude his update on this area, the Minister said that a long-term contractor will also be sought to address maintenance related to the ambulances. The minister hopes that this will eliminate the issues that islands face due to a lack of specialised maintenance options for such equipment and assets.