An evaluation of the various Emergency Medical Services (EMS) models and mechanisms in place in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is critical in order to have a better understanding of what can be improved upon for effective pre-hospital and emergency care services (PECS). With grant funding provided by the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF), this report aims explore the State of EMS Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa through a review of the models and mechanisms being developed across various States.

The premise of the report focuses on the fundamentals for effectively providing satisfactory treatment to those in need of urgent medical care, while also recognizing that there are multiple pathways, framed by the respective legislative, legal and regulatory enabling environments, towards a more formal and sustainable EMS model. It represents an effort to identify the major similarities and differences, as well as potential opportunities for greater coordination or collaboration, that can lead to the development of sound policy recommendations for fostering and expanding post-crash response services in the region.

High-level system information has been collected through questionnaires distributed to National Respondents in each country, for which 25 of 44 countries substantially responded as of April 2019 (collectively hereinafter referred to as SSA countries): Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo Brazzaville, Gabon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Missing data and discrepancies triggered a detailed review of laws and other regulatory acts, policy and plan.

The Report does not consider the advantages and disadvantages for the EMS models adopted by SSA countries, nor does it take a position on which regulatory approach should be applied, or measure the degree of EMS standards implementation and the success or failure of implementing various EMS policies. The principal aim of this report is to capture the current range of the standards and regulations in key areas of EMS systems across SSA.

The State of Emergency Medical Services in Sub-Saharan Africa is supported by UK Aid through the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility.