The Federal Government has handed over 13 emergency ambulances to health facilities in Ogun State to strengthen emergency medical services, while ordering a comprehensive probe into allegations of unprofessional conduct, dereliction of duty and illegal collection of levies at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abeokuta.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Kunle Salako, disclosed this on Friday during the flag-off and distribution of Advanced Life Support and tricycle ambulances under the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System (NEMSAS) at the FMC, Abeokuta.
Ogun State received three Advanced Life Support ambulances, one Basic Life Support ambulance and nine tricycle ambulances as part of the first phase of a nationwide intervention by the Federal Government.
The vehicles are to serve the FMC Abeokuta, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital and selected high-volume and hard-to-reach secondary and primary healthcare facilities across the state.
Salako said the Federal Government had acquired 145 tricycle ambulances, six boats, 15 Basic Life Support ambulances and 79 Advanced Life Support ambulances, alongside laptops, printers and communication devices, for distribution across the country.
He said the intervention formed part of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment under the Renewed Hope Agenda to improve emergency transport, communication systems and state-level capacity.
“Every day, precious lives are lost not because illnesses or injuries are beyond treatment, but because emergency care is delayed, fragmented, inaccessible or entirely unavailable,” the minister said.
According to him, the government was shifting from merely providing ambulances to building a coordinated emergency care system linking transportation, trained personnel, communication, referral pathways and definitive treatment.
Salako also said the Maternal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative had supported more than 48,000 women to receive free emergency obstetric care, while over 4,000 women received free caesarean sections in NHIA-empanelled facilities.
He said the intervention contributed to a 17 per cent reduction in maternal deaths and a 12 per cent decline in newborn deaths across 172 high-burden local government areas.
The minister, however, warned that the newly distributed ambulances must be used strictly for emergency medical services.
He said the facilities and health authorities must ensure their proper maintenance, deployment and operation by trained personnel.
“These ambulances are not hearses for moving corpses or vehicles for going to the market to purchase goods, including drugs and other hospital consumables,” Salako warned.
He urged the Ogun State Government and beneficiary health facilities to provide operational and maintenance funding to ensure that the vehicles remained functional.
On allegations involving the FMC Abeokuta, Salako said his office had received several complaints and media reports accusing some officials of unprofessional practices, dereliction of duty and illegal collection of levies.
He vowed that the allegations would be thoroughly investigated and anyone found culpable sanctioned in line with civil service rules.
“Unfortunately, in the last few months, my office has been inundated with several complaints and has also come across some reports in the media that alleged unprofessional practices, dereliction of duty and illegal collection of levies against some officials of this centre,” he said.
“These complaints and reports are now going to receive our comprehensive attention and anybody found culpable will be sanctioned in accordance with the civil service rules.”
Salako said patients deserved professional medical care, clear communication, support and respectful treatment, stressing that the government would not tolerate conduct capable of undermining public confidence in the health system.
He also said the Federal Government was working to address the fragmented framework regulating first responders and emergency management, with a view to strengthening coordination across emergency services.
