The Ministry of Health has received seven new ambulances from World Health Organisation with support from Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to support maternal and child health services in the five selected districts in Busoga sub region.
These districts include: Bugiri, Buyende, Iganga, Kamuli and Mayuge districts.
The ambulances worth over Shs 1.2 billion will help reduce delay in accessing and receiving timely health care services as well as building the systems to improve the quality of healthcare in the region.
The WHO country Representative,Yonas Tegegn said that maternal adolescence and child health indicators were not good in the region.
"Adolescent pregnancy rates remain high and continue to contribute to abortion related complications and complication of pregnancy and delivery such as obstetric-fistula, yet our communities still remain rather uninformed of these challenges," he said.
He explained that reproductive health morbidities and mortality are high in Uganda and they have been so for a long time.
Dr Diana Atwine, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health expressed her gratitude towards WHO and other partners that have continuously supported the health sector during the past years.
“The steadily increasing commitment towards the sector is a sign of confidence in us to fully utilise these resources to serve our people better," Atwine said.
Charles Olaro, the director of Health Services Curative, said the donation will enhance response to emergencies in a region relatively with higher cases of maternal mortality.
He said systems are in place for the effective management of the equipment installed with trackers, planned for installation in all the fleets under the control of the ministry.