Just a year ago, Victoria Astrovskaya, a paramedic of the Belica Health and Obstetric Centre (MOC), could hardly visit her patients even in two villages during a day. She had to travel many kilometers on foot between the settlements, while carrying a heavy medical bag.
Now, Victoria manages to visit 4-5 villages. It was made possible by the electric bike purchased under the Wasting No Time initiative.
The initiative provided two-wheel transport to all 18 MOCs of Sianno District. Medical aid became more accessible and timely for the villagers. Now, Victoria Astrovskaya and her colleague paramedics are able to visit more patients in remote villages, and get there faster. With the e-bike acquisition, the paramedics' time of travel to patients reduced 3-5 times.
The number of calls referred to MOCs by the district hospital almost doubled, thus cutting ambulance travel costs. Almost 200 liters of fuel were saved in a few months only. The indicators of residents' preventive medical checkup in the district are on the rise, too, ultimately promising a lower workload on the district hospital and better demographic rates in Sianno District.
The Wasting No Time initiative was co-implemented by the Sianno District Branch of the Belarusian Women's Alliance NGO in partnership with a local hospital. Wasting No Time is a winner of the 1st Contest of Local Initiatives that was held under the Preventing Non-communicable Diseases, Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle and Support to Modernization of the Health System in Belarus (BELMED) project. The project is financed by the European Union and implemented by UN agencies.
