SAMU receives 156 new ambulances and reaches 114 more municipalities in the country.
Nearly 100 cities are receiving the service for the first time; the Lula administration has already delivered more than 2,2 vehicles since 2023.
247 - The Mobile Emergency Care Service (SAMU 192) continues its expansion in Brazil with the delivery of 156 new ambulances to 114 municipalities in 15 states. The measure, announced this week by the Ministry of Health and officially released by... Federal governmentThe goal is to reduce response times in urgent and emergency cases within the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS). Of the cities included, 94 will have access to the service for the first time.
The initiative guarantees access to mobile healthcare for more than 2 million Brazilians. With this new batch, the number of ambulances delivered since the beginning of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's third term exceeds 2,2 units. The SAMU (Mobile Emergency Care Service) already covers almost 90% of the Brazilian population—a significant leap in expanding access to public health.
Among the municipalities debuting in the system is Cavalcante (GO), home to the third largest quilombola population in Brazil, with 4,7 self-declared individuals. Also on the list is São Lourenço do Piauí, which has approximately 4,4 inhabitants and, until now, did not have any SAMU ambulances.
The delivery of the new vehicles was made possible by the New Growth Acceleration Program (Novo PAC), with an investment exceeding R$ 50,4 million. On March 14, the Ministry of Health had already carried out another large-scale action, delivering 789 ambulances to 559 cities in 21 states. Among these vehicles, 86 were Advanced Support Units (USA), known as mobile ICUs — a type that had not been distributed by the federal government since 2018.
In total, Lula's administration has already delivered 2.222 ambulances for the SAMU 192 emergency medical service—a number six times greater than that recorded between 2019 and 2022, when only 366 vehicles were made available. As a result, more than 6,1 million people have gained access to mobile emergency care. Today, the service has more than 4,3 ambulances in circulation, benefiting 188,6 million people in 4.143 Brazilian municipalities.
In addition to expanding coverage, fleet renewal has been another focus of the government. Of the ambulances delivered since 2023, 1.917 were intended to replace older vehicles, representing 49,6% of the vehicles currently authorized and in use. Many of these ambulances were up to 15 years old and operated in precarious conditions.
The Ministry of Health aims to universalize the SAMU (Mobile Emergency Care Service) by the end of 2026. The goal is to deliver an additional 2,3 ambulances in the next two years — with 1,3 already planned for 2025. State and municipal managers have until March 31st to register for the New PAC (Growth Acceleration Program) and request resources for the renewal or expansion of their local fleet.
