Pregnant women in Nairobi and its environs will now get free rides during curfew hours in case of an emergency such as going into labour courtesy of Bolt, a taxi-hailing app in the country.
Ola Akinnusi, the CEO of Bolt in a statement on Thursday said that the deal is a partnership between the firm and Kenya Healthcare Federation (KFH) dubbed ‘Wheel For Life’.
Should a pregnancy emergency crop up during curfew hours, one is required to dial 1196 which is toll-free and get a doctor’s advice.
Bolt said that the plan is aimed at ensuring that women in labour get the much-needed help during curfew hours and reduce maternal deaths which could spike as a result of anxiety and lack of means of transport.
“The status of curfew has created anxiety among expectant women should labour ensue during the night. There is thus an urgent need for proper systems to be in place to support them during pregnancy-related emergencies. Our aim is to facilitate the movement of expectant mothers during emergencies related to labour from their homes to the approved health facility of their choice in a safe, convenient and timely manner. This is why we have a partnership that will see many expectant mothers get free rides to the hospitals throughout the curfew hours,” the statement read.
“The partnership dubbed Wheels for Life will see expectant women within Nairobi and its environs get free rides from their homes to the approved health facilities through Bolt for Business account that will be managed by the Kenya Healthcare Federation (KHF), the health sector board of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA),” the statement read further.
AMREF Enterprises and AMREF Health Africa, University of centre Rescue.co have also partnered with Bolt in this new health plan for expectant mothers.
These entities will provide a rapid dispatch team with ambulances within Nairobi metropolitan. They will offer fumigation services for Bolt taxis and linkage to ambulances if need be.
Bolt will also work with all active call centres managed by medical personnel who will advise on how best to handle severe cases and the nearest facilities to book them into.
“Near-term women, with birth plans in place will be provided with stamped documents from the relevant authorities and hospitals to enable them and their partners passage on the road as they rush to hospital. They will be required to call a toll-free line (1196), in order to have access to these services,” the statement further stated.