AfricaPress-Tanzania: BENJAMIN Mkapa Hospital (BMH) has committed to ensuring that all specialised services are accessible to designated capital city patients and those in nearby regions.
The commitment was given at the weekend by BMH Executive Director, Dr Alphonce Chandika, when he was announcing a second successful renal transplant performed by Tanzanian medical specialists.
He said next year the hospital would perform a bone marrow transplant that was planned to be performed this year, but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Chandika said the hospital had a number of specialists who offered specialised services, thanks to the fifth phase government for training them and building their capacity.
As for renal transplant, Dr Chandika said they wanted BMH to be a centre of excellence and an icon as it had been doing well using Tanzanian medics.
Previously, people with damaged kidneys would be referred by the government to India for kidney transplant at 100m/- per patient, while the same money would cover treatment costs for four to five patients at BMH.
“Being a lower middle-income economy, to treat patients home instead of being referred to overseas hospitals will benefit BMH as it will be well-prepared to treat patients,” said Dr Chandika.
He said BMH in collaboration with the University of Dodoma (Udom) performed its 13th kidney transplant last month, since they started providing specialised services in 2018 in partnership with foreign medics.
He noted that in March this year, BMH had performed its 12th kidney transplant and first kidney surgey without the support of foreign medics. He said BMH had become the first hospital in the country to perform surgeries independently.
Dr Chandika used the occasion to praise the government for the support it accorded to BMH, noting that kidney transplant at the hospital was a dream come true and the government had played a big role in making sure the dream came true.
Udom College of Health and Allied Sciences Principal, Prof Ipyana Mwampagatwa, who represented Udom Vice-Chancellor, Prof Faustine Bee, commended the management of both institutions, Udom and BMH for the vision to perform kidney transplant.
“We have this service of kidney transplant in the country by using our very own doctors because of good leadership and vision,” he said.
Prof Mwampagatwa advised BMH to come up with a model in which they would train and share skills to other medics both local and foreign.
BMH nephrologist, Dr Kessy Shija, said the kidney transplant by Tanzanian medics demonstrated that the service was available in the country, saying kidney transplant was a routine service.
“Those with kidney patients can bring them to BMH for treatment,” he said.
