Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE government has released 4bn/- to the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) to facilitate research and develop vaccines for various pandemic diseases.
Deputy Minister for Health, Dr Godwin Mollel revealed that during an opening of the scientific conference organised by Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (HKMU) in Dar es Salaam this week.
The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Strengthening Health Systems Performance and Resilience in Responding to Public Health Emergencies: How is the Future?’
Dr Mollel said science is crucial for development of any nation so the government will continue to invest in the field to produce more scientists so as to help the nation in addressing various health challenges.
“President Samia Suluhu Hassan pledged to provide 6bn/- to NIMR as am speaking she has already released 4bn/- to facilitate various researches and develop our own vaccines,” he said.
He further commended the founder of Kairuki Health Education Network (KHEN), the late Professor Hubert Kairuki for his vision to be the first Tanzanian to own private hospital and Health University.
The Deputy Minister said Prof Kairuki invested heavily in the health sector especially in the establishment of Mikocheni hospital which has helped to reduce congestions in public hospitals by accommodating many patients.
He said KHEN has been of great importance to the health care services provision and HKMU has been instrumental in producing many medical doctors and nurses who are currently working in many public and private health facilities across the country.
He said scientists must be ready and put in place strategies to fight various pandemics such as Covid -19.
On his side, the HKMU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Yohana Mashalla, said communicable diseases are a big threat to many developing countries compared to the developed ones.
He said the Covid-19 pandemic is a clear testimony that the country needs to have proper health care system to fight various diseases in the future.
“We need to strengthen our health care systems to be ready to fight pandemic like Covid-19 and we must be aware that Covid-19 is not the last pandemic because many more will come so we must be ready all the time,” he said.
In his speech, President of Hubert Kairuki Memorial University Student Association (HKMUSA), Mr Nimrod Matungwa, said disease outbreaks and health emergencies can push health systems to a breaking point, especially in fragile systems.
He said building resilient and responsive health systems is an imperative for the global health community and there is an important opportunity to address health systems strengthening activities during outbreak response.
“Most frameworks for building resilient health systems that effectively respond to disease outbreaks focus on enhancing preparedness or response capacity prior to an emergency or to strengthen health systems after the emergency, typically during the recovery phase,” he said.
He noted that many aspects of outbreak response lay the groundwork for health system strengthening such as enhancing surveillance systems and training the health workforce.
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