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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health has said it will install tracking devices in all ambulances to ensure efficiency in services.
According to the commissioner emergency medical services, John Baptist Waniaye Nambohe, the devices will help the ministry track the movements of the ambulances, fuel consumption and general efficiency.
Nambohe was speaking on Tuesday at the handover ceremony of an advanced ambulance worth 230 million shillings for the Malaba district border port health.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) handed over the ambulance with an Intensive Care Unit to the Ministry of Health of Uganda.
Waniaye says that the tracking will be through GPS support provided by an Indian company whose procurement has started.
Uganda Radio Network (URN) could not establish the contract details and the name of the fleet management system to conduct the installation of GPS tracking.
The Principal Logistics Officer Emergency Response and Patient transport Charles Takan said that so far, two ambulances are being tracked in a pilot project and with time, all the 300 ambulances countrywide will have devices installed in them.
Among the new ambulances donated in 2021, one was stolen from Arua district.
The European Union representative Nicolas Gonze said that the EU is committed to supporting Uganda during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He says that COVID-19 poses serious challenges for health systems all over the world with health workers working under extreme pressure with limited personal protective equipment.
Lucy Daxbacher, the IGAD head of the mission said that IGAD decided to support member states to cut transmission of COVID-19 in special communities like in the borders, centres which are recipients of migrants in the IGAD region and refugee camps among others.
She says that the donations such as ambulances can boost their response capacity.
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