Africa-Press – Tanzania. ALL regional hospitals will be equipped with CT-Scans in six months, a big boost to the country’s health sector.
Finance and Planning Minister Mwigulu Nchemba further stated yesterday that each district hospital will acquire x-ray and ultrasound.
In his speech of ‘hope’ for health services in the country, Dr Mwigulu said the government is going to install magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines in all zonal hospitals to enable Tanzanians have access to the crucial diagnostic services.
Lack of crucial services have been forcing doctors to refer patients to urban centers for diagnosis and treatment thereby posing a financial burden to those who had to travel.
Dr Nchemba disclosed this at the closing of the fourth Technology and Investment Mining Exhibition in Geita, where he was representing the Vice President Dr Philip Mpango.
“President Samia Suluhu Hassan has disbursed a huge sum of funds to finance the procurement of these machines across the country.
“Available statistics show that there are very few CT- Scans…our youth who have been subjected to accidents will now be relieved from travelling to Dar es Salam to access the services,” Dr Nchemba.
He observed that the long wait has finally come to an end since the needed funds for purchasing those medical equipment are readily available waiting for the implementers to take action.
He, however, cautioned against any mismanagement by the planners, noting that the President was closely following up on every spending with regard to the set budget.
As such, the Minister urged the responsible parties to effectively supervise the execution of the envisioned plans for the benefit of Tanzanians who demand the important services.
On other hand, Dr Mwigulu spoke about government’s plan construct Vocational Education Training Centers (VETA) in each council whose implementation had stopped for a long time due to lack of funds.
Upon their completion, the institutions are expected to equip young people with job skills and life skills for them to effectively participate in the development of the country.
On the other hand, the Minister urged local miners to use the available gold refineries in Mwanza, Dodoma and Geita to process the gold which has been mined within the country.
According to him, the move will enable the country avoid exporting raw gold, something which reduces the benefits that could have been obtained from refined gold.
He pointed out that the current plan is to look into the possibility of incentivizing the area to attract people from foreign countries to make use of the refineries to process their minerals.
“I urged the Ministry of Minerals in collaboration with other stakeholders to come up with modern technologies in the mining sector to boost the development of the country,” he noted.
The Deputy Minister for Minerals, Prof Shukrani Manya, attributed efforts by President Samia Suluhu Hassan in increasing local content to increased revenue collection to 10bn/- annually from Geita Gold Mining Company compared to the previous collection of only 463.8m/- (200,000 US dollars).
Prof Manya maintained that the ministry will continue adding value to the minerals obtained within the country.
Likewise, the Ministry of Minerals in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade will work together to ensure that the country’s industries have access to raw material mainly nickel and graphite.
On his part, the Geita Gold Mining Company (GGML) Vice President, Simon Shayo pledged to support the government in achieving the 2025 vision where the mining sector contributes at least 10 percent in the country’s GDP.
