Africa-Press – Tanzania. PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa yesterday handed over 20 ambulances worth 2.24bn/- to be distributed in 17 regions. The vehicles are for 13 Health Centres, five local government councils, one District Hospital and the remaining will be sent to a Regional Referral Hospital.
Speaking at the handover ceremony in Dodoma, Mr Majaliwa instructed all councils to allocate budgets for the vehicles’ services so that they last long and serve the intended purpose.
Elaborating, he called for their timely maintenance and asked Members of the parliament from the beneficiary councils to ensure the vehicles are run according to the government directives.
“There are some councils that aren’t paying due attention on maintaining the cars, they are not even allocating budgets for their services, this isn’t acceptable,” he said, while asking the legislators to put emphasis during the councils’ meetings.
Last year, the government released 50 ambulances out of 70 that were lined up for distribution, as part of efforts to improve delivery of health services to the public.
“President Samia Suluhu Hassan has approved the distribution of these 20 ambulances for Health Centres, District Hospitals and Regional Referral Hospitals.
“These are fine vehicles and can travel between 500 and 1,000 kilometers within a short time, this means a patient can easily be transferred from Mbeya to Dar es Salaam’s Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) or Dodoma’s Benjamin Mkapa Hospital (BMH) within a short time,” he said.
In a related development, he thanked the Global Fund through Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH Grant) for supporting the government in the initiative.
Mr Majaliwa disclosed that, distribution of the ambulances is part of implementing CCM 2020 general election pledges, adding that the government will keep on walking its talk.
Earlier, the Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Dr Dorothy Gwajima cited Shinyanga Referral Regional Hospital and Masasi District Hospital as some of the beneficiaries of the ambulances.
A list of five councils that have received the ambulances include Mkalama (Singida), Ngorongoro (Arusha), Chunya (Mbeya), Buhigwe (Kigoma) and Nyamwaga in Tarime, Mara region.
The 13 beneficiaries health centers in the list were Kifanya (Njombe town), Bwina (Chato), Iyula (Mbozi), Lubanda (Ileje), Kibaoni (Kilombero), Nakapanya (Tunduru North), Kilongwe (Mafia) and Bwisya in Ukerewe.
Others were named as Kibutuka (Liwale), Nalasi (Tunduru South), Mlete (Songea Urban), Kambi ya Simba (Karatu) and Mnazi in Lushoto, Tanga region.
Speaking on behalf of the Members of Parliament, the Njombe Urban lawmaker Deaodatus Mwanyika thanked the government for supplying the ambulances to the needy councils.
