PAYMENT of the 45.7bn/- debts to four Indian hospitals is subject to medical investigations and financial assessment to prove their authenticity.
The government allegedly owes the Indian
hospitals in respect to medical bills for Tanzanian patients who were
referred for specialised treatments.
Similar financial analysis also applies
to the 61bn/- debt, which the government owes the Medical Stores
Department (MSD) in storage and transportation of medicines and medical
supplies under the Global Fund financing.
Health, Community Development, Gender,
Elderly and Children Minister Ummy Mwalimu gave the government position
here yesterday while responding to issues raised by the Controller and
Auditor General (CAG) audit report for the 2016/2017 financial year.
“I have asked the Permanent Secretary
(PS) in the Ministry to form a team of specialist doctors to assess the
debts. They will look on the tests, consultation, transport,
accommodation, drugs and food costs,” she explained.
The latest financial audit by CAG Musa
Assad had raised a red flag, revealing that the debt soared by 17.1bn/-
from 28.6bn/- to 45.7bn/- in a span of just six months.
“The debt has been accumulating over the
years, but our concern is whether the claimed costs were genuinely used
for the intended treatment and not other issues like cosmetic surgery
or IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation), which are not our priority,” explained
the minister.
Prof Assad, in his report, also advised
the government to improve local capacity for specialised treatment, the
advice Ms Mwalimu said the state has started working on. She pointed out
that 95 per cent of heart surgeries are now conducted at the Jakaya
Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI), while Muhimbili National Hospital
(MNH) and Benjamin Mkapa Hospital (BMH) have started kidney transplant.
“The remaining five per cent of cancer
are toddlers below the age of one year who require specialised care out
of the country,” she explained. The minister stated that the government
has earmarked 14.5bn/- during the financial year to procure equipment
known as pet scan, which is used to trace exact location of cancer cells
in the body.
According to the Minister, when
President John Magufuli came to power at the end of 2015, the total bill
for treatments abroad was 554bn/-, but the amount decreased to 357bn/-
and 163bn/- in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Speaking at the same press conference,
the Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Prof Joyce
Ndalichako, said Higher Education Students’ Loan Board (HESLB) has
unearthed 147,213 outstanding defaulters from just 18 which were
previously on record.
Regarding loan repayment, she said the
board had collected 132bn/- as of March, this year, against the 130bn/-
target, expressing confidence that the amount will surge even more by
the end of this fiscal year on June 30, 2018.
Only 28bn/- used to be collected
previously, but collections rose to 162bn/- in 2017 as HESLB intensified
crackdown on defaulters. The percentage has increased from 28 per cent
of mature loans in 2014 to the current 51 per cent.
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