Sri Lanka’s frontline healthcare workers to receive free rides through UberMedic
Uber in partnership with the government of Sri Lanka has reportedly launched its new service, UberMedic, to offer free rides worth Rs. 8.5 million to transport frontline healthcare workers to and from their homes and health care facilities.
According to reports, the service will be live in two leading Colombo public hospitals, Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) and the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL), where Uber will expedite the provision of 26 cars free of cost to support medical authorities.
Uber will facilitate top-rated drivers and dedicated cars to the hospitals through its platform so that they can easily arrange reliable and efficient transportation for doctors, nurses and other health workers.
Uber’s offer is part of its global commitment, recently announced by CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, to provide 10 million rides free of charge to healthcare workers, seniors, and people in need.
Sharing details about the service and offering free rides to hospitals, Uber India and South Asia Head of Central Operations Pavan Vaish has been quoted as saying, “By leveraging our global experience, technology and network of drivers, UberMedic allows us to facilitate free transport for Sri Lanka’s real heroes, our healthcare workers, who’re helping keep our communities safe. We feel privileged to be supporting the government in helping contain the spread of COVID-19 by and stand ready to speedily scale up UberMedic to more hospitals across the country.”
To maintain safety and hygiene standards, drivers are to be provided with personal protective equipment such as masks, sanitisers and disinfectants to sanitise cars between rides.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s health requirements, especially in providing the necessary safety gear, for frontline health workers as well as ordinary citizens is a new emerging business/investment opportunity in Sri Lanka’s health sector. The supply of face masks, gloves, PPEs and other safety gear required by frontline staff as well as the public in combating Covid 19 is a business opportunity that would yield positive returns. Also, foreign businesses/investors could look at setting up a manufacturing base for these supplies in Sri Lanka that would enable the supply of medical components at competitive prices.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20052020/Z_8 |