Community-Based Emergency Transport for Maternal Emergencies in Shinyanga

For a maternal emergency, referral is useful only if a woman can physically reach the facility able to provide care. The programme tested whether locally available transport could add resilience where ambulances were scarce. Among 989 completed referrals, roughly seven in ten used community taxis; the estimated cost per completed referral was about USD 170 for the combined system versus USD 472 for ambulance-only transport in that setting. The result shows how locally available transport, digital triage and referral coordination can expand emergency capacity without pretending taxis are substitutes for clinical care.