SHA’s race to build an ambulance system that works for every Kenyan

Kenya’s Social Health Authority (SHA) is planning a national Emergency Ambulance Initiative to reduce preventable deaths from road traffic injuries, heart attacks, strokes, maternal emergencies and other acute conditions. Emergency medicine experts have welcomed the proposal but warn that success will depend on far more than purchasing ambulances, cautioning that vehicles without trained personnel, dispatch systems, clinical governance and sustainable financing will not save lives. Dr Benjamin Wachira, Consultant Emergency Medicine Physician at Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi, says the initiative must be understood as the creation of an entire emergency medical service system, not a procurement exercise. “The proposal represents an important opportunity to strengthen emergency care in Kenya and improve outcomes for patients experiencing time-sensitive emergencies,” he says. “My greatest concern is that the rollout could focus on vehicles without making equivalent investments in the systems required to support them.”