Kenyans will soon be able to access emergency ambulance services with the ease of hailing a cab, following the government’s plan to launch a tech-driven ambulance system by October 2025. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announced the development during a recent television interview, describing it as a major milestone in transforming the country’s emergency medical response.
“We are introducing a very good ambulance system by October, where Kenyans will use it like the app of calling an Uber,” said Duale. “You check in our system, call the ambulance, and it takes you to a hospital free of charge paid for by the people of Kenya.”
The digital platform, once rolled out, will allow users to request ambulances in real time through a mobile app or web-based system. The service will be fully funded by the government under the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund (ECCIF), which is already budgeted for by Parliament.
The new system is part of a broader strategy to reform healthcare delivery under the Social Health Insurance Act of 2023. ECCIF is one of three funds created under Section 28 of the Act and is designed to cover emergency treatment and the management of chronic conditions, especially once the primary social health insurance cover is depleted.
According to Duale, this move is aimed at addressing persistent challenges in Kenya’s emergency healthcare system, particularly in rural and underserved areas where ambulance response has historically been slow or nonexistent. The government hopes that digitizing ambulance dispatch and ensuring full public funding will remove financial and logistical barriers to timely medical intervention.
Once operational, the ambulance service will be integrated with the country’s existing health infrastructure, ensuring that citizens in urgent need can be swiftly transported to nearby healthcare facilities without worrying about cost.
The Uber-style ambulance initiative marks a significant step in leveraging technology to improve public health access, and underscores the government’s commitment to achieving universal health coverage for all Kenyans.
