WHO donation jacks up Dar diseases fight

DAILY NEWS Reporter

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has donated medical supplies worth 2.5 million US dollars (about 5.5bn/-) to the government meant to fight pandemic diseases in the country.

Resident Coordinator of the WHO, Dr Adiele Onyeze, while handing over the items yesterday, said that the equipment would strengthen the capacity of the government to identify and take immediate interventions on diseases in protecting people’s health.

Speaking after receiving the donation, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, Dr Mpoki Ulisubisya, said the medical supplies would mainly be used to combat diseases such as cholera, Ebola, Dengue, Yellow Fever and others.

“The WHO has helped us on a better way to control these diseases, by giving us the facilities, so now we stand a better chance to fight these diseases,” he said. Despite the fact that the country has yet to record any Ebola case, cholera has been a common disease affecting Tanzanians.

The disease has been a major challenge in the regions of Songwe, Rukwa and Arusha where the ministry deployed a team in the areas to contain the situation and control spread of the disease.

For instance, in Rukwa Region, seven people died of cholera following an outbreak that hit five wards along the Lake Rukwa Basin in Sumbawanga District of Rukwa Region, with 138 others diagnosed with the disease from November last year.

On the wake of the outbreak of the deadly disease, the Sumbawanga District Commissioner (DC), Dr Halfany Haule closed fishing camps and banned all fishing activities carried on Lake Rukwa on the side of Sumbawanga District, until assurance from health providers is issued that the deadly disease has been brought under control.