Masaka City Gets New Ambulance.

 

Ugandans on X-Platform (Twitter)  have shared their displeasure following the news of the Tuku Tuku ambulance which was donated to Masaka Hospital.

The tuk-tuk ambulances were photographed by the leader of the Opposition, Hon. Mathias Mpuuga while it was arriving at the Hospital.

With the sirens on, the ambulance is painted white and inscribed, “Maternal and child health. Support a mother to deliver from a health facility.”

On top of the writings, the words Rotary and its sign were on the far left while the word ambulance was in the middle, and the Ugandan Ministry of Health symbol was at the far right.

Ugandans questioned whether the tuk-tuks would be getting to the patients on time claiming that there was a looming corruption scandal over the procurement of the ambulances.

MPUUGA-Masaka Regional Referral Hospital serves a catchment area of approximately 2.4 million. The gov't has constructed new buildings, but the staffing levels remain low at less than 50%. Instead of the required 18 specialist doctors per department, there are only 2. This being a taxpayer-funded hospital, all services are meant to be free. Unfortunately, critical services like CT Scan are paid for - Shs 120,000!! Emergency cases of patients that cannot raise the amount have to wait for a certain committee to sit and determine which patients should get a waiver!! This is so because @MinofHealthUG has failed to provide ably facilitate the hospital to become fully functional. Out of its annual budget of Shs 5.4 billion, the hospital gets a paltry Shs 1.5 billion.#LOPOversightTour #AccountabilityAndService

Here are some of the reactions from Ugandans;

It's a good initiative but with our depilated roads, will they handle it?

— Caesar Okurut (@COkurut) October 21, 2023

They don't look strong enough for our village's terrible roads. If you doubt me, do a follow-up after one year. We might be having none of them operating 🤣

— Smith Rumanzi (@SRumanzi) October 21, 2023

I now stamp it that Uganda 🇺🇬 is a meme country now what’s that seriously 😒

— Huzaifah Nawaz (@HuzaifahMawazi) October 21, 2023

What a shame!!!

— Theresa Owomugisha (@teddie_theresa) October 21, 2023

Seriously what kind of medical equipment can fit In this tuku-tuku plus a caretaker and a patient inside? It's really impossible to call this an ambulance. @ministryofHealth should use the vehicles Ugandans donated during COVID instead cause their purpose is long gone.
Useless 🚮

— Ismael Imac (@ismael_kalule) October 21, 2023

But. Government of Uganda. Does it take its citizens less seriously? Now look at this …..

— UBUNTU &Human Rights Activists (@human_ubuntu) October 21, 2023

I don’t know who comes up with such ancient ideas. The government has enough funds to buy proper ambulances not these boda boda tuku tuku.

— Marion 🇺🇦 #EndKaramojaMassacre🇺🇬 (@MarionKafuko) October 21, 2023

A tuk-tuk costs between Sh 3,000,000 to 5,000,0000. According to dealers, 

The Tuku Tuku project is an initiative that was launched this year by the prime minister of Uganda, Rt Hon. Robina Nabbanja. they were donated by the Rotary District 9214 which intends to donate 320 ambulances to 320 sub-counties countrywide.

A functioning ambulance needs an ambulance bag or first aid box with bandages, medicines, syringes, and drips. The medicines include antiseptics, antibiotics, antipyretics, analgesics, and sedatives.

It should also have equipment for measuring vital signs, a pocket mask with a one-way valve for cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a portable oxygen cylinder, a portable suction unit, a detachable drip stand, a bedpan, a urinal, a kidney dish, and a bed or stretcher equipment.

An ambulance, a medically equipped vehicle is used to respond to medical emergencies with their speed depending on the road type. They should arrive within 7 minutes if dealing with category 1 patients who are in life-threatening situations and need immediate intervention and/ or resuscitation.

Depending on the type of emergency, more often than not, ambulances speed up past the agreed-upon speed limit with most of them being over 70km per hour.