World Bank, FG, Nasarawa State Government Collaborate To Provide Emergency Ambulance Services In The State
The Nasarawa State Government has gone into a partnership with the Federal Government and the World Bank to provide emergency ambulance services in the State to improve the health of the populace.
In a meeting between officials of the Federal Ministry of Health and the Nasarawa State Ministry of Health which held on Monday October 28, 2024 at the conference hall of the Nasarawa State Ministry of Health in Lafia, modalities were discussed to kickstart the project under the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System (NEMSAS).
Speaking with pressmen after the meeting, Dr. Lawal Ahmadu, one of the resource persons from NEMSAS disclosed that the team was in Lafia to engage with stakeholders on the new Rural Emergency Service and Maternal Transport (RESMAT) Programme.
He said the programme has pregnant women as the main target with the aim of
attending to 1,700,000 pregnant women from January 2025 to December 2025.
Describing how the process will work when it is properly kick started, Dr. Lawal Ahmadu said: “if the program starts, there will be a call number – 11-digit number for the State, and there is a national number call center number 112. So once there is an emergency, irrespective of whether it’s a woman or any other person, you call that number. Immediately you call that number, it will go to dispatch. Somebody will now direct you to the nearest ambulance available close to you. The ambulance will come and pick the individual.”
He also disclosed that the service is free of charge and that the programme will take care of the bill for the treatment within the first 48 hours in the health facility.
Also speaking with journalists after the meeting, the Permanent Secretary of the Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, Dr. John Damina who represented the Commissioner, expressed the total support of the Nasarawa State Government for the RESMAT.
He said Nasarawa State Government had since realized the need to make transportation easier for pregnant women especially and had gone into a partnership with road transport workers.
He therefore welcomed the collaboration with the Federal Government and World Bank saying, “There will be vehicles and also ambulances that will be positioned in different places, particularly areas that have a lot of maternal cases, emergencies of this nature. These ambulances will be informed and they will move to that area and transport the patient down to where assistance can be given.
“So to us as government, we are in support of what the national government is doing and it’s been happening in different States.
“We are prepared by arranging our own structure to key into this very program.”
He said that the government is well aware that there are some remote areas that cannot be easily reached with vehicles and assured that they are already working out alternatives to ensure every corner of the State benefits from it.
