Another 26 vehicles were added to the existing fleet of ambulances on Thursday under the 108 ambulance service launched by the State Government since 2013.
Health & Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena flagged off the 26 new ambulances during a programme here.
The ambulance service would be available at various Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in the districts of Sundargarh, Balangir, Boudh, Deogarh, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Nayagarh, Sambalpur and Subarnapur.
Currently, the 108 ambulance service is operated with a fleet of 444 vehicles (388 Basic life Support and 56 Advanced life Support) covering all 30 districts providing emergency medical service free of cost.
In addition to the 108 ambulance service, the State has in position a fleet of 500 ambulances under the 102 ambulance service for transportation of pregnant women and sick infants, an official release said. With the launch of these services, over 35 lakh people are benefited so far.
The services are also instrumental in reducing Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) significantly.
The Government has made a Budget provision of Rs 90 crore over a period of five years for the additional ambulances.