Akwa Ibom criminalises use of ambulances to convey corpses

The Akwa Ibom State Government has outlawed the use of ambulances to convey corpses for burial throughout the state.

The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Ekem John, announced the new reform while briefing journalists during the monthly media briefing organised by the Ministry of Information on Thursday.

John, who was accompanied by his counterpart in the Ministry of Information, Hon Aniekan Umana, and the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ekerete Udoh, described the law as one of the most audacious introductions in the health sector in the state.

He said corpses should be conveyed in hearses, warning that any ambulance, whether privately owned, state-owned or operated by a mission, caught conveying corpses for burial would be impounded.

“His Excellency has now institutionalised Akwa Ibom State Emergency Medical Service Ambulance System, which is one of the most audacious introductions in the health sector in the state. It started as a policy but it is now an agency established by law.

“Through this law, the state government has now criminalised and outlawed the use of ambulances to carry corpses. In the last one year and six months under the reforms of His Excellency, Governor Umo Eno, we have returned our ambulance operations to the level found in the Western world.

“You will not find any government ambulance at any burial site. The law is very clear, whether it is a privately owned ambulance, mission ambulance or government ambulance, you cannot carry corpses. Corpses are carried by hearses and when you now use our ambulance to carry corpses, you are creating a public health threat to the rest of the public.

“The law now empowers government officials to impound the ambulance. So, let people know that when they go to hire an ambulance for their burial, those ambulances can be intercepted on the road,” he said.

The commissioner disclosed that about nine bills had been sent to the State House of Assembly for deliberation and onward passage into law, covering areas such as hospital governance, public health security, HIV prevention, protection and anti-discrimination, and public health standards and regulations.

He disclosed that when the health standards regulatory bills became law, the agency would be empowered to prescribe the minimum acceptable standards for all health facilities in the state.

He added that once this was done, hospitals operating in the state would be required to meet certain obligations before commencing operations.