The federal government has announced plans to strengthen Nigeria’s emergency healthcare system by expanding the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System (NEMSAS) and developing a digital emergency dispatch platform to improve responses to critical illnesses.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, disclosed this on Thursday while declaring open the 11th Annual Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Intensive and Critical Care Society of Nigeria (I-CCSN) in Abuja.
The conference, themed “Sustainable Financing for Intensive Care in Public Hospitals in Nigeria,” focused on improving access to critical care and addressing financing challenges in the country’s health sector.
Mr Salako said NEMSAS, which began as a pilot project in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has now expanded to 34 states, bringing Nigeria closer to nationwide emergency medical coverage.
He also announced that the government is developing a digital emergency dispatch platform that will connect emergency callers, ambulance services and treatment centres through a single system.
