Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva says that an air ambulance service between Maldives and Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) will start on March 1 this year.
This announcement was made after a special meeting between the Minister of Transport and Aviation of the Maldives Captain Mohamed Amin and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva held today at the ministry office with the aim of starting an air ambulance service between the two countries.
This service enables Maldivian citizens to quickly travel to Sri Lanka for emergency medical treatment in case of accidents, illnesses and other health emergencies. Earlier Maldivian citizens were transported to India for emergency medical treatment. But the current president of the country is strongly anti-India and he is strongly pro-China. Therefore, he is trying to discourage the relations between Maldives and India.
“However, considering the quality of emergency care in Sri Lanka, the Government of Maldives has decided to refer such patients to hospitals in Sri Lanka in future,” said the Minister of Transport and Aviation of Maldives.
For this, the Minister has given all necessary approvals to the airport officials and the Civil Aviation Authority. To establish a special unit at the airport for the new service and to maintain it equipped with all necessary facilities, The Minister gave instructions to the secratary K.D.S. Ruwanchandra,