Africa-Press – Tanzania. MASSIVE investment in the health sector by the sixth phase government has continued to provide a sigh of relief to citizens by accessing the services closer to them .
The government has been building, rehabilitating and expanding health care infrastructure in various parts of the country as part of efforts to improve healthcare in the country.
Tuesday, President Samia Suluhu Hassan inspected the construction of Njombe Regional Referral Hospital which has reached 90 per cent.
The 27.9bn/- facility is expected to provide improved health services to residents in the region who hitherto had to travel to either Mbeya or Dar es Salaam for specialised health care.
The facility is crucial to the residents in the region, who were forced to travel about 750ki- lometres to Dar es Salaam or 276km to Mbeya to seek medical services which were not available in their area.
Strengthening health infra- structure in Regional and Zonal Referral Hospitals as well as Muhimbili National Hospital is also one of Health Ministry priorities in the current fiscal year.
Briefing the President on the progress of the project, Medical officer In-charge, Dr Wilfred Kiambile said the project which commenced in 2016 was con- ducted in phases, and so far 15 infrastructures have been built, among others Outpatient Depart- ment (OPD), maternity building, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with a capacity of 26 beds, laboratory and three theatres
He said the hospital has capacity a of 400 beds and it also expects to install CT- Scan machine next month to ease access of the service to patients who were forced to travel to Mbeya for the service.
Dr Kimabile said that initially the hospital had a capacity of serving between 60 and 100 outpatients, but to-date the facility is capable of attending 1,600 patients per month.
“This is a milestone for our hospital”.
“Before the implementation of this project, we had no maternity ward, theatres and inpatients’ wards, but to date we have a modern facility with capacity of accommodating 400 patients and an up to date ICU unit,” Dr Kimabile said.
According to Dr Kiambile, the ICU with modern equipment comprises two units, one for emergency services and they can both accommodate 20 to 26 patients who need special care.
He said the project also includes construction of a health college and twenty staff houses, which are currently underway.
“This is a huge motivation to health employees in the region, which will contribute to the improvement of health delivery to the people of Njombe and nearby regions such as Iringa and Ruvuma,” said Dr Kiambile.
Also, the completion of the project will improve their health and give people time to engage more in economic activities instead of wasting time in search of health services.
On his part, Minister of State in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), Innocent Bashungwa said the government is committed to improve access to health services, including specialised medical care by building more facilities in the country.
“The government is doing a lot to facilitate the improvement of health sector in general by constructing new dispensaries, health centres, district hospitals and zonal referral hospitals to meet its goal of improving the sector,” he said.
Minister Bashungwa disclosed that the government has already set aside 120bn/- for purchasing health equipment to be distributed in the newly built and renovated health facilities in the country.
“We are in the procurement stages of various health equipment and before the end of this year we are expecting to distribute them, that is why I have instructed that other on-going projects should be completed before the end of this year,” he disclosed.
He further said that in efforts to address the shortage of health staff, the government has already employed 7,612 nurses who have been dispatched to different parts of the country and plans are un- derway to continue employing more of them.
Health Minister Ms Ummy Mwalimu commended the government for continuing to invest in the health sector, saying Njombe Referral Hospital is one of many ongoing health projects in the country.
The Minister said the con- struction of such facilities will help to save time and money be- cause people will access the services within their region.
Tabling the national budget for the current fiscal year, Finance and Planning Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba said that the government will continue to improve the health sector by building, rehabilitating and expanding health care infrastructure.
They include construction of Special Maternal and Child Hospital in Dodoma; commence the construction of Western Region Referral Hospital, complete the construction of five Regional Referral Hospitals in the new regions of Katavi, Geita, Njombe, Songwe and Simiyu and complete the expansion of eight Regional Referral Hospitals.
He added that the government will also continue to improve specialized and super specialized services in National and Regional Hospitals by improving infrastructure as well as equipping Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI), Chato, Mtwara, KCMC, Bugando and Mbeya Regional Referral Hospitals.
The minister detailed that in 2021/2022 fiscal year, the gov- ernment constructed, expanded and rehabilitated health infrastructures, including 66 Intensive Care Units (ICUs); 100 Emergency Medical Departments (EMDs), 150 staff houses, seven Regional Referral Hospitals and one specialized hospital in Mirembe and 304 health centers for Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (CEmONC) to improve maternal and child care.
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