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S'pore's first electric bus for medical screenings and vaccinations rolled out

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Singapore has rolled out its first electric vehicle licensed to offer medical screenings, making such services more accessible and convenient to the elderly islandwide.

The bus, owned by charitable healthcare organisation Sata CommHealth, can also be used to conduct vaccinations and medical consultations.

Officially launched on Monday (March 14) by Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, it will first be made available to Sata's 24 existing partners, such as the Bishan Home for the Disabled.

The bus, which can accommodate a maximum of two patients, will provide services such as retinal photography, blood pressure screening, diabetic foot screening and Covid-19 vaccinations. Basic medicines are stocked.

There will be a doctor, a nurse and two administrative staff to help out with the registration and paperwork on the bus.

The launch of the vehicle also marks Sata CommHealth's 75th anniversary.

Dr Kelvin Phua, its chief executive officer, said: "This electric medical bus will help to increase the accessibility of seniors who have to travel long distances to the clinics and also help to take care of the seniors."

Using an electric vehicle is not only environmentally friendly, but will also eliminate the need for any set-up time.

When conventional diesel buses are used, a basic set-up, such as in one of the rooms in a senior care centre, is needed to serve the patients, and that takes about 1.5 hours.

This is necessary as air conditioning is not possible in the diesel bus for long periods of time. An external generator would otherwise be needed.

But air conditioning is not an issue in an electric bus, allowing its offerings to be conducted entirely inside. A fully charged electric bus can run 200km, and power an entire day's operations.

Currently, Sata has 10 diesel vehicles which come in various sizes and have different capabilities, such as X-ray and mammogram screenings.

Sata plans to have an all-electric fleet by 2030.

ELECTRIC AND HYBRID VEHICLESMinistry of Health