Sindh’s health and population welfare minister has handed over eight ambulances to facilities running under the provincial management of the Peoples Primary Health Initiative (PPHI), hoping that these vehicles will be used to transport critically ill patients.
At a ceremony held at the initiative’s provincial head office in Karachi on Wednesday, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho handed over the keys of the ambulances to the medical officers and drivers of the respective health facilities.
Dr Azra said that these vehicles will serve three main objectives: free-of-charge moving of pregnant women for delivery, shifting of severely malnourished children and tending to accidents on roads.
She lauded the efforts of the PPHI Sindh, saying: “The health department acknowledges the PPHI’s commitment towards improving health indicators in Sindh. We are establishing a well-integrated strategy to work together and make basic health facilities easily accessible to the underprivileged communities in the province.”
She said the health department wants to develop a seamless referral process, and these ambulances will definitely play a vital role in achieving the object.
PPHI Sindh CEO Abdul Wahab Soomro said: “The PPHI’s immediate focus is on reducing delayed patient mobility and transfers to and from health facilities, which usually cost us lives. We have mobilised additional resources to ensure that medical care is effectively accessible to everyone in need.”
The initiative has distributed 189 ambulances to different basic health units (BHUs) in the past. After the addition of eight more vehicles, the total number of ambulances now stands at 196.
The latest health facilities to receive the ambulances are BHU Plus Wakrio, Tharparkar; GD Plus Doonhai, Tharparkar; MCHC Jannat Gul, Karachi; RHC Tandojam, Hyderabad; BHU Tando Mitha Khan, Sanghar-A; BHU Wahur, Jamshoro; BHU Joungal, Jacobabad and BHU Bahadurpur, Jacobabad.
Soomro said that the PPHI is a company set up under Section 42 of the Companies Act 2017 (formerly the Companies Ordinance 1984), which is working under an agreement with the provincial government.
The objective of establishing the organisation was to revitalise health services in rural Sindh. The immediate goal was to ensure that health facilities handed over to the PPHI were fully functional, providing health services to all persons within their reach.