AfricaPress-Tanzania: AS part of continued efforts to improve health care services in the country, the government has promised to continue employing nurses in accordance with the rising demand in the health sector.
Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ms Ummy Mwalimu expressed the government’s commitment yesterday when addressing nurses at the Mwananyamala Referral Hospital in Dar es Salaam, during an event to mark the International Nurses Day that is commemorated on 12th May every year.
She said despite the country having a total of 30,451 nurses, the government sees the need to prioritize employment of qualified nurses to be deployed in health facilities ss the country.
According to her, 80 per cent of health services in the hospitals, health centres and dispensaries are provided by nurses, therefore the government would continue to recognize their role in serving lives.
“Nurses have been good fighters in the health sector and they have been doing the same in this period of the Covid-19 pandemic. I truly and sincerely congratulate all nurses in the country,” she said, adding that the government had finalized the guidelines for nurses and midwives for them to serve the public by considering humanity.
She said so far, a total of 778 nurses in 15 referral hospitals had been trained on various techniques of attending patients humbly.
“This kind of training will continue to be offered to all nurses at all levels across the country, and we have arranged a system of collecting grievances from all health centres and hospitals,” she remarked.
For his part, President of Tanzania National Nurses Association (TANNA), Mr Alexander Baluhya, said in order for the country to have good health care services, there must be a sufficient number of professional nurses and better working conditions.
“Currently, a shortage of nurses and midwives stands at 48 per cent. Currently, there is a total of 30,451 nurses who have been employed who constitute 60 per cent of all health workers in the country,” he said.
