Health ministry seeks to control all ambulances
The Ministry of Health is seeking to centralise ambulance services in Kenya, saying the current system is chaotic and leads to unnecessary loss of lives.
The ministry says currently no one knows how many public ambulances are there in Kenya, their capacity and where they are located at any time.
The ministry is now seeking to reorganise medical emergencies through a five-year plan it says will cost Sh11 billion.
The ministry says the new number will be linked to a national and county dispatch centres for ambulances in Kenya.
The new system would allow an ambulance owned by Machakos County to, for instance, save a patient in the nearby Murang'a county, which rarely happens.
"The need to strengthen emergency care services in Kenya is long overdue," says Health CAS Mercy Mwangangi.
The recommendations are contained in the newly-launched Kenya Emergency Medical Care policy.
The ministry says it is not taking over ambulances from counties but will work with governors to improve capacity and increase efficiency.
The Kenya Medical Emergency Strategy 2020-2025, launched alongside the policy, seeks to achieve the changes within five years.
It says while the purpose of an ambulance is to reach any place within 15-20 minutes after the distress call and transport the patient to a health facility within 20 minutes, this rarely happens.
"Few people make it by ambulance given their cost, scarcity and the lack of a well-connected, reliable central dispatch system," the strategy document says.
The strategy also seeks to enforce standards for ambulances operating in Kenya.
Some counties and private hospitals have been accused of converting matatus and mini-vans into makeshift ambulances, which endanger the lives of patients.
The ministry says it will work with the Kenya Bureau of Standards to upgrade and enforce the minimal standards countrywide.
CAS Mwangangi, who launched the policy and the strategy, said: "I believe with the Covid-19 pandemic the need to fast-track its implementation is a priority even as we head to the holiday season which is associated with many road traffic accidents that test our emergency care regularly."
The ministry estimates implementation will cost about Sh11 billion because it will also involve training of health workers on emergency care countrywide.
The Emergency Medicine Kenya Foundation, a non-profit that is partnering with the government to reorganise Kenya's emergency medical care, says a good system can reduce deaths by 50 per cent.
“For Kenya to achieve UHC, there is a need to strengthen the emergency health care system which serves as the first point of contact for our health system. Effective universal emergency care has the potential to reduce deaths in Kenya by 50 per cent and disabilities by a third,” EMKF director Dr Benjamin Wachira.

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