The process of handing over “Tuk-Tuk” vehicles to aid pregnant women in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, has turned into a sarcasm on social media in the past two days.
And the Ministry of Health in Khartoum officially announced, on Thursday, the allocation of “Tuk-Tuk” vehicles to aid critical cases of pregnancy and childbirth emergencies in the suburbs of Jabal Awlia, south of Khartoum, and Umbada, west of Khartoum, to reduce maternal mortality rates.
The Ministry of Health in Khartoum stated that the project was carried out in coordination between the General Administration of Primary Health Care in the Ministry with the Cava Organization, and with the support of the United Nations Organization for Population Activities.
An advisor to the Director General of the Ministry of Health in Khartoum told the Sudan News Agency (SUNA) that the project aims to reduce deaths of pregnant women and children and reduce complications resulting from childbirth.
Mortality among mothers and newborns is still high, and the ambulance project aims to transfer pregnant women from the middle health service areas to more qualified areas to reduce maternal and newborn deaths.
Scourge of evil laugh
As it is said, “The evil of misfortune is what makes one laugh.” The matter triggered a wave of sarcasm on communication sites in Sudan, and some questioned the feasibility of allocating a “tick” that lacked the simplest security and safety rules to assist pregnant women, or those about to give birth in a safe way, with the poor internal roads, including asphalt streets. And also during the fall season, which usually witnesses heavy rains and floods. They wondered why the Ministry of Finance does not allocate a budget for the Ministry of Health, sufficient to purchase ambulances with safe specifications.
Interacting on social media in Sudan said: “Do not be surprised, this is the biggest achievement of the Ministry of Health for the year 2022 AD, and as much as your quilt extend your legs, the important thing is that the tuk-tuk driver be a doctor specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, for quick intervention, if any emergency occurs, while he is on his way to the hospital.”
Others also sarcastically commented on the benefits of tick-tuk aid: “premature birth, increased herniated disc, and higher rates of concussion.”