Providing ambulances for all Grade II Basic Health Unit (BHU) will not be possible in the 12th Five Year Plan. The health minister shared this during the Question Hour of the National Assembly yesterday. Sombaykha’s Member of Parliament (MP) Dorjee Wangmo had questioned the minister on what basis the health ministry decides the allocation of ambulances.
As of today, there are 211 Grade II BHU in the country. Of it, only 16 have ambulance services.
“If you refer to the 2018 Ambulance Service guidelines, there are three ways of allocating an ambulance. The first one is the caseload that is the total number of patients, the second is the strategic location of the area. And the last one is the catchment that is the population of the area. So based on these three criteria, we allocate ambulances,” Health Minister Dechen Wangmo said.
The government has proposed a budget for 31 ambulances in the 12th Five Year Plan. From that lot, 18 will be as a replacement for ambulances that have been used for over 10 years.
Currently, there are 116 ambulances across the country.
