KAMPALA- A section of lawmakers has called for compulsory first aid training for both police and motorists as a condition to obtain driving licenses in order to improve access to emergency health services and reduce the mortality occasioned by delayed access to such services in Uganda.
The call was made by Maracha East mp Ruth Lematia and backed by kole North mp Dr.Samuel Opio MP during the Multi-Stakeholder Engagement on Advancing Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Uganda organized by Twaweza Uganda, held at Gold Course Hotel in Kampala.
Lematia who comes from a lineage of police officers narrated several incidences that her father held emergencies while growing up wondering why the current police officers don’t have the same skills.
Opio called for compulsory training of all motorists in first aid and safety training as is done in other nations as a precondition for motorists to qualify for driving licenses, saying this would equip them with knowledge on how to handle emergencies in case they encounter any in their communities.
Although Opio, who doubles as Vice Chairperson of Parliament’s Health Committee, commended Government for boosting ambulance access at the constituency level to 54%, saying this is higher than the case 4-5 years ago when Government had no ambulances at the constituency level, he said that these efforts are being hampered by the poor road infrastructure, citing a case in Amudat where the area ambulances were being forced to drive to Kenya in order to transport patients to Mbale Referral Hospital because the main road had been cut off.
Marie Nanyanzi, Senior Program Officer at Twaweza East Africa, called on MPs to ensure that legislation on bystander protection (Good Samaritan law) is enacted by Parliament, saying many Ugandans are hesitant to help people in need or emergency care, especially road crash victims, due to the fear of being accused of causing the injuries, and at times, they are forced to pay medical bills for the people whose lives they attempted to save.
While unveiling results of a survey conducted in October 2021 by Twaweza and published in August 2023, Nanyanzi explained that very few citizens are aware of any toll free number to call in a medical emergency, and those seeking assistance from health facilities in the case of emergency had to wait for an average of 43 minutes.
