Bhubaneswar: In a bid to further improve the performance of Emergency Ambulance Service in the state, particularly in tribal districts, and to meet the increasing demand for the service, The Government of Odisha through State budget funding, have provided for an additional 92 ambulances under the 108 fleet. The State Govt. has also provided for up-gradation of 28 Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances to Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances, Out of the state fund, to strengthen the existing ambulance fleet. The Govt. of Odisha has made a budget provision of 90 crores (over a period of five years) for these additional ambulances. These ambulances are dedicated to the people of Odisha, said Mr. Naveen Pattnaik.
In the first phase, 24 ambulances have been launched by the Hon’ble Chief Minister on today. The remaining vehicles of the fleet of 92 ambulances will be rolled out phase wise, across the state.
All these ambulances will be operated through collaboration with Ziqitza Health care ltd. Commenting on the rollout of these Ambulances, Mr. Naresh Jain, CEO, Ziqitza Healthcare Ltd, said, “We are happy to announce addition of 24 more Emergency ambulances in Odisha, which will help us to serve the people of Odisha more effectively by reducing the response time. We truly appreciate the efforts and support received from the Govt. of Odisha and especially the Honorable Chief Minister of Odisha, Shri Naveen Patnaik for the constant effort to improve emergency response network in Odisha.”
Among others present on the occasion were Shri. Pratap Jena, Hon’ble Cabinet Minister, H & FW Dept, Govt. of Odisha; Ms.Shalini Pandit , IAS – Mission Director, National Health Mission , Department of Health & Family Welfare, GoO. Ms. Archana Patnaik, IAS, Mr. Sabyasachi Biswal, Orissa Head, Ziqitza Healthcare Ltd, Mr. Ananta Narayan Jena, Mayor and various officials of the Health Department.
Till date over 31 lakh people of the state have benefited from the ambulance service. The intervention has been instrumental in significant reductions in both the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in the state.
Introduction of this new fleet of ambulances is part of the agreement signed between Ziqitza Health Care Ltd. (ZHL) & Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Odisha on 6th May, 2017 for the launch of 92 additional 108 ambulances in the state. In first phase, the Odisha government is going to launch these new 24 ambulances in districts like Anugul(4), Puri(3), Bergad (3), Dhenkanal(3), Balasore(4), Bhadrak(3), Sundargad (4). All the new ambulances have an extra inner space than the previous models, which will make it more comfortable for the patient.
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