Federal Health Initiative Boosts Access to Life-Saving Rural Emergency Care
Hussaini Ibrahim 
KANO, Nigeria – Women and children under five in Kano State are gaining wider access to free emergency medical transport under the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System (NEMSAS), a federal programme aimed at reducing maternal and child deaths.
Health officials disclosed this during a sensitisation campaign in Warawa Local Government Area, organised to educate residents about the Rural Emergency Service and Maternal Transportation Programme and other no-cost medical emergency services.
Launched by the Federal Government, NEMSAS provides rapid emergency response and ambulance transportation for vulnerable groups, particularly pregnant women and young children in rural communities.
Programme Accountant Salihu Abubakar explains that the awareness campaign is designed to ensure women understand how to access the service during medical emergencies.
“Once a call is made, a vehicle is dispatched to the beneficiary’s location and transports them to a hospital at no cost,” he says. “There is no need for money; the service is completely free.”
Through the maternal transportation initiative, pregnant women in hard-to-reach communities can request emergency transport during labour, while children under five suffering severe illnesses are also eligible for free conveyance to hospitals.
Dr Sheriff Yahaya Musa, Kano State Coordinator of NEMSAS, says the outreach also aims to assess how well communities understand the programme.
“We are implementing the programme at the state level. Today’s visit is to assess beneficiaries’ knowledge, and we chose Warawa Local Government Area for this exercise,” he says.
A beneficiary, Aisha Isyaku Abdullahi, recounts how the service helped during her labour.
“The ambulance arrived quickly and took me to the hospital. Within less than 30 minutes, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy,” she says.
Officials say thousands of pregnant women and newborns have already been transported from remote communities to healthcare facilities under the scheme.
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Oluwatobi Adu 
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