Author: LYDIA SHEKIGHENDA
AfricaPress-Tanzania: KOREA Foundation for International Healthcare (KOFIH) recently donated medical equipment to Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) Mloganzila to enhance capacity building of health personnel.
MNH Executive Director Prof Lawrence Museru said that the equipment would be used by local experts to perform surgical procedures in the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Department.
He added that other equipment would be used by biomedical engineers and technicians to repair tools.
Speaking during the handing over of the equipment, Prof Museru said since its establishment in 2017, MNH Mloganzila has been cooperating with various institutions and groups from South Korea.
“We have been cooperating with KOFIH since 2017 in areas of expertise… the foundation has been dispatching medical personnel in different specialties to work at Mloganzila… currently we are working with neurosurgeons and gynecologists who have been dispatched to the country through the Foundation,” Prof Museru said.
He noted that currently, the national hospital Mloganzila is cooperating with KOFIH in areas of capacity building which include training of health personnel in area of medical equipment .
He noted that the national hospital has been facing a challenge in maintenance of its equipment but the support will enable the hospital to repair them.
Prof Museru said that the donated equipment will improve efficiency in the ENT department since the experts will have all the required equipment for treatment of the ailments.
He said that the equipment worth USD 144,080 (equivalent to 335m/- ) include surgical equipment among others, tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, basic kit for ENT surgery, mastoidectomy kits and tracheostomy kits.
Other equipment to be used to repair medical tools include vital signs patient simulator, electrical safety analyzer, radiation inspector, electro surgery analyzer, portable gas flow analyzer and personal working tool kit.
Prof Museru commended KOFIH for its support which will help the national hospital to continue providing quality services to the patients.
For her part, KOFIH Tanzania Deputy Country Representative Ms Kim Jungyoon said that her organization was very excited to hand over the equipment to the national hospital.
“We hope this donation will improve healthcare services at the hospital and to the citizens in general,” she said.
Ms Jungyoon noted that since Tanzania has a long term cooperation with the Republic of South Korea, they hope that the country will continue to support Tanzanian government in various areas, including healthcare sector.
