Tanzania medical tourism drive pays off
DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA’s plan to become a medical tourism hub is slowly becoming a reality following a new development that will see people from Comoro Islands accessing health services in the country.
Tanzanian Ambassador to Comoros Peirera Silima said that the government is set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with government of Comoro Islands to allow the people from the archipelago to have access to specialised healthcare at the Southern Zone Referral Hospital in Mtwara Region.
The envoy said all the procedures have been completed as the MoU awaits signature from the parties involved.
“The Ministry of Health in Tanzania and the government of Comoros are set to sign an agreement on health issues anytime from now,” he said, noting that once the agreement is accomplished, Comorians will have access to specialised healthcare from Mtwara.
Silima was speaking during a visit by a delegation of 22 traders from Ngazidja Island in the Comoros at the Southern Zone Referral Hospital in Mtwara.
He said there are many patients from Comoro Islands who seek specialised services from distant hospitals some located as far as Dar es Salaam and Madagascar.
Silima said the Southern Zone Referral Hospital in Mtwara is a nearby facility for patients from Comoro Islands, noting that “taking a patient from Comoro to this hospital (Southern Zone Referral Hospital) is only 25 minutes by air”.
Earlier, the Ngazidja delegates pointed out that breast surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are among the healthcare services dearly needed by Comoro people as the hospitals in Comoro Islands lack the services.
Acting Director with the Southern Zone Referral Hospital Dr Emmanuel Ngadaya said the hospital provides numerous health services including paediatrics, gynaecology, obstetrics and general surgery.
Other services available are orthopaedics and traumatology, dental clinics, ophthalmic and optician clinic, emergency, physiotherapy, ICU services, pharmacy and cardiology.
Dr Ngadaya said the hospital is equipped with medical equipment that enable provision of effective, efficient and high quality specialised medical services.
Among the equipment are 103 hospital patients’ beds to accommodate patients, including executives and VIPs.
According to Dr Ngadaya, the hospital currently has 174 staff including specialised medical doctors. He said the hospital is set to have 1,164 staff upon the completion of construction work.
The newly constructed hospital started offering healthcare services in October 2021. It is set to accommodate 800 to 1,000 patients per day after it is fully completed.
He mentioned some of the hospital infrastructure whose work are still underway as staff houses, among others.
Mtwara Regional Commissioner Colonel Ahmed Abbas said the government in the region is committed to ensure all the patients from both within and outside the country including those from the Comoros and from neighbouring regions receive quality services, including being assured their safety.
The hospital, whose construction cost stands at 15.8bn/-, was set up to provide specialised and super specialised medical services to patients from Mtwara, Ruvuma and Lindi and neighbouring countries of the Comoros, Mozambique, Zambia, and Malawi.
In October last year, President Samia Suluhu Hassan said that massive investment in Tanzania’s health sector is aimed at enhancing availability of specialised services and strengthening the country’s position as a healthcare hub for medical tourism.
Speaking at the fully packed Lake Tanganyika Stadium in Kigoma Region shortly before concluding her three-day working tour President Samia assured that the government will continue constructing more zonal hospitals to ease accessibility of specialised health services.
So far, efforts towards implementation of medical tourism strategy have started bearing fruits as the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) and Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI) are receiving patients from Kenya, Burundi, DRC, Malawi, Comoro and Mozambique.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK