Dar makes inroads in burns care services

DEUS NGOWI in Arusha

TANZANIA is making a vital and positive step in the health sector by improving the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of burns, thanks to the Burn Project undertaken by the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) and surrounding communities.

The project, funded by the UK Aid, has prompted development of a new treatment facility at the Zonal Referral Hospital as well as sending professionals to work in a number of wards and departments at KCMC including finance, management, nursing, psychology and surgery to provide all-round support to the hospital.

In an exclusive interview with the ‘Daily News’, Mr Robert Hope, the International Partnership Project Officer from Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle, UK, said that since 2004 Northumbria health specialists have been offering services to those affected by burns at KCMC.

Ms Catherine Hadall, a Burns Specialist Nurse said that while the Burns Project has already accomplished so much to help improve burns care in Tanzania, the team is keen to continue training their counterparts at KCMC and ensure the project makes a long-lasting difference.

“The student nurses and I had a lot of discussions on the nursing practices at KCMC and it struck me that these nurses wanted to change it for the better; they agreed that wards were overcrowded and that practice could be improved,” said Ms Hadal, adding that burns are preventable and that is the best thing to do.

The Head of General Surgery at KCMC, Dr Kondo Chilonga, expressed appreciation to Northumbria NHS and UK Aid for the support, pledging to improve the burn services. Mr Hope unveiled that team members included a consultant plastic surgeon, consultant anaesthetist who performed life saving and transformational surgery on many patients with severe burns. He gave an example of the team working around the clock using basic instruments to help a 15-year old patient, who almost lost the ability to move his arms and shoulder because of severe burns.

“With full patient recovery as their goal, the team’s work in the hospital does not end there as they also turn their care and attention to helping patients overcome the psychological and emotional trauma often experienced from a burn … at times, there were over 30 people (KCMC medical staff) watching surgery ... developing an independent surgical practice is very much the intention of our visits and the fact that this was developing in our first week was an excellent achievement,” said Mr Hope.

“As well as KCMC staff, the lectures were attended by doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professionals from across Tanzania, demonstrating a shared goal to learn about and improve burns care in the country. Finally, improving burns care is not limited to inside hospital doors as the project also focuses on prevention too and during the trip, the team worked out in the community to deliver burns awareness activities. 

The team taught local people, such as motorcyclists and school children, First Aid and burns prevention, aiming to equip them with the skills and knowledge they’d need to avoid and respond to accidents,” the officer said. Over 96 per cent of fatal fire-related burns occur in lowand middle-income countries.

In addition to those who die, millions more are left with lifelong disabilities and disfigurements, often with resulting stigma and rejection. An estimated 265,000 deaths occur each year from fires alone, with more deaths from scalds, electrical burns and other forms of burns, for which global data are not available.