Fuel Shortages Leave Charity Ambulances Struggling to Transport Emergency Patients

Charity ambulances face emergency patient transport difficulties due to inability to buy fuel

November 9

Because purchasing fuel has become difficult in Magway Region, difficulties are being encountered in transporting emergency patients, and even emergency health services directly related to patients' lives are being affected, according to charity workers in Magway Region.

To urgently transport an elderly patient receiving the highest level of oxygen at a hospital in Magway town to Taungdwingyi town, an ambulance went around filling up at fuel stations inside and outside the town on the afternoon of November 9, but was not allowed to purchase the needed amount, it is said.

"When we have to take an emergency patient and set out, we end up going around to fill up at fuel stations. Fuel had already been scarce, so we couldn't fill up in advance either. There's only a little fuel left in the car, almost gone. One fuel station only sells 50,000 kyats' worth. Even if we ask for more, we can't get it," a charity ambulance driver told MyoTaw.

In Yangon, Mandalay and other cities as well, charity ambulances do not have the same convenience in buying fuel as taxis and private business vehicles, and there are sometimes situations where they cannot buy more than 30,000 kyats' worth of fuel, it is also known.

Due to limited fuel availability and purchasing difficulties within Myanmar, not only transport businesses but also agricultural operations and daily livelihood businesses are being affected, and the restrictions on the amount that can be purchased at fuel stations and rising prices in the outside market are causing greater difficulties for charity groups with limited financial resources.

"When an emergency happens, it's charity workers and ambulances that rush to help first before government organizations arrive. But when it's our turn, we can't buy fuel, and when we can, we only get about 30,000 kyats' worth. If this situation goes on for long, charity vehicles will have to stop. Then the ones who will suffer most are the people in need of help," a charity worker in Bago Region told MyoTaw.

With fuel that has to be bought at higher prices in the outside market, when the quality is poor, vehicles fail to start and break down, so fuel quality as well as fuel availability has become a concern for ambulances, it is said.

Charity workers are also calling for fuel for emergency ambulances to be sold under a separate priority quota and for arrangements to be made so that they can buy the needed amount in time.

Before the coup, charity and social assistance organizations provided 24-hour service to the people, and after the coup there were also announcements that social assistance organizations would not be allowed to transport patients across regions and that ambulances without organization registration would be seized.

MyoTaw News Channel