Eighteen New Ambulances Now in Operation, Thanks to Constituency Development Fund

Eighteen newly purchased ambulances have been delivered to ZAMMSA, the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency, Local Government Permanent Secretary Nicholas Phiri announced on Wednesday. This brings the total of newly procured ambulances to 47, out of a target of 109. This operation is the responsibility of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), itself an arm of the Presidential Delivery Unit. The purpose of the fund is to ensure that resources are allocated evenly throughout Zambia’s varied constituencies, thus guarding against regional inequality. Mr Phiri has ordered the immediate distribution of the new ambulances to their respective destinations, spread across the country.

One town set to benefit from the arrival of these new ambulances is Zimba, and the chairperson of the local council, Loveness Chigora, believes this will greatly benefit health outcomes in her town. “Before these ambulances came, we had a lot of problems on issues to transport patients from the rural health centres to our district facility”, she told ZNBC news.

Further, Mr Phiri remains confident that, despite some initial delays from the suppliers, the remaining 109 ambulances to be procured by the CDF will be in Zambia by the end of May. “We are not going to tolerate any artificial delay in processing the delivery of these vehicles”, he said.

These new ambulances are vital for ensuring that Zambians across the entire country, even in remote rural areas, have access to quality healthcare. Moreover, while there are still many more to be delivered, the project remains on schedule, demonstrating the logistical capability of the CDF as it pursues its goal of a connected and equal Zambia.