By Guardian Reporter , The Guardian
MEDICAL specialists offering treatments to patients countrywide free of charge have visited 56 districts in nine regions, with 20,922 patients being served.
Engelbert Kayombo, Health ministry spokesman, said in a briefing on the campaign progress in Dar es Salaam yesterday, affirming that out of the total served patients 1,170 are children.
Health minister Ummy Mwalimu launched the campaign dubbed ‘President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s doctors campaign’ on May 6 in Iringa, meant to scale up efforts to reach people at community level as part of the campaign to reduce the disease burden.
The specialists spend five days in one district council across the country, the official noted, asserting that the response shows that there is great need of conducting campaigns like this in order to reach more people who are in dire need of health services across the country.
“The sixth phase government under President Samia eagerly wants to transform the health sector to address challenges facing Tanzanians,” he stated, expressing the view that this campaign is among several projects by the ministry to ensure access to quality health services.
Apart from providing health services to patients, the experts will be training health assistants in the districts to foster the provision of sustainable quality health services, he said, citing Iringa, Njombe, Songea, Mbeya, Songwe, Rukwa, Manyara, Singida and Dodoma as having been reached by the doctors.
During the launch, the minister stated that the ministry had listed areas with high needs of specialists in particular for women, children and new-borns. The team involves surgeons, anaesthesiologists and others providing services for five days a week, he said.
The doctors have this week camped in Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions thus increasing the number of patients served by the teams, he elaborated, noting that in Muheza District, Tanga Region, the team camped for four days.
This brought relief to patients who were unable to access specialist medical services in major hospitals, he said, while Zainab Abdallah, the district commissioner, said at the services launch at Muheza District Hospital that the medical camp has greatly helped the residents. It has saved costs and time, she stated, urging residents in the district to utilise the opportunity to get quality services from the specialists camping there for them.
A visit at the district hospital witnessed medical specialists serving patients with various health challenges, with Dr Juma Mombokaleo, the hospital medical officer in charge, saying those who go there to see the doctors are chiefly seeking gynaecological support.
“We have also witnessed many with various diseases, seeking for surgical services as well as relief from children diseases,” he added.
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