Rural ambulance service harbinger of change for expecting mothers

Minister says the govt has tried to reduce risks to the lives of mother and child

LAHORE: The launch of rural ambulance service for the expecting women is a harbinger of cultural change, which will greatly benefit the womenfolk, said Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Khawaja Imran Nazir.

He was presiding over the monthly meeting of district coordinators of Integrated Reproductive, Mother, New Born Child Health Programme (IRMNCH) at a local hotel on Friday.

The minister said that in the rural areas, the provision of ambulance service on a phone call to carry the expecting mother to a nearby health centre is no less than a revolution, which was earlier unimaginable for such communities.

He added that the government has made a successful attempt to reduce the risks to the lives of mother and child by providing a safe delivery facility through skilled birth attendants.

Due to the successful strategy of the Punjab government, medical officers as well as high-quality medicines are available free of cost to the deserving patients at 95% basic health units across the province.

The minister said that system of health sector from the basic health units up to the district headquarters hospital has been totally transformed during the last few years.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2018.