New ambulance service launched for two Sindh districts

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari inaugurated the much-awaited 'Sindh People’s Ambulance Service' at a ceremony held at the CM House on Friday.

He said the provincial government had realised the dream of former prime minister Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto by launching a state-of-the-art ambulance service to improve health services in Thatta and Sujawal districts.

Addressing the launching ceremony, he said Shaheed Benazir Bhutto always worked to provide the best services in every sector to the marginalised segments of society.

“The Sindh government, by launching the ambulance service in partnership with the Aman Foundation, has actually materialised the dream of our Shaheed Benazir Bhutto,” he said.

The PPP chairman said that over 200 local people of Thatta and Sujawal had been trained to provide emergency health service in their respective areas. “This is the beginning of a new era under which the poor people of Thatta and Sujawal would be able to transport their patients to any suitable health facility.”

Bilawal Bhutto said the collective wisdom of the PPP leadership and the Sindh government had translated into genuine service to the people of the province and this ambulance service would also be extended to the other districts.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said former president Asif Zardari was the architect of the public-private partnership in Sindh. “When he had taken over as president of Pakistan, he had guided the Sindh government to launch mega projects through public-private partnership mode because the provincial government had meagre resources to take them up,” he said .

Murad added that following the guide lines of Zardari, the Sindh government launched mega projects under the public-private partnership mode.

He cited the Jhirk-Mulakatiar Bridge on River Indus and the Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas road in this regard.

The CM said under the guidelines of his political leadership, he was working hard to improve educational and health services. “This is the first step to launch an ambulance service in partnership with the Aman Foundation in Thatta and Sujawal. Similar service would be started in each and every district of the province,” he said, assuring people to provide the best health services in every nook and corner of the province.  

The Sindh government in private partnership of the Aman Foundation has launched the Sindh Peoples Ambulance Service. The calling code is 1036.

Around 206 locals have been hired, trained and deployed to provide emergency health service to the people of Thatta and Sujawal.

The service has been started with 25 ambulances equipped with basic life support. Out of 25 ambulances, 12 have been given to Thatta and 10 to Sujawal and three have been kept in back up. The operating expenditures of the service would be around Rs268.31 million.  

On the occasion, health secretary Dr Fazal Pechuho gave a briefing on of the service and Aman Foundation CEO Malik Ahmed Jalal briefed on the operation of his services. Jalal assured that the service in Thatta and Sujawal would be efficient and effective.