KIGALI - The Ministry of Health (MoH), yesterday, distributed 26 ambulances to various hospitals countrywide in its efforts to take health services closer to the population.

The vehicles, worth an estimated Rwf 943m, were handed over by the Minister Health , Dr Richard Sezibera, in a ceremony held at Camp Kigali.

According to Sezibera, the criteria used in selecting the benefitting hospitals included the proximity of the health facility to the nearest available ambulance services and the number of people served by the particular hospital.
"We look at the supply at each centre and our target is at least five ambulances per hospital countrywide,” said the minister adding that the primary aim is reducing maternal and infant mortality rates.

He urged those responsible for the vehicles to handle them with care saying that whoever mishandles them would be punished.

"These ambulances are expensive and very important, they should only be used to transfer patients in critical conditions to referral hospitals, those who misuse them will be punished,” the minister emphasized.

He urged hospital directors to develop a business plan that will help maintain the ambulances without depending on the government.

The director of Ngarama Hospital, Dr Leonard Bantura, hailed the government for its efforts to improve the health sector.

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