Tanzanian Government Makes New Raft of Investments in Healthcare

The National Assembly was informed of the allocation of 30bn/- for the purpose of the bettering health delivery services in the districts of Simiyu, Njombe, Mara and Katavi earlier this week. The funds have been released by the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children and will be one of their highest priorities this term.

Dr Faustine Ndugulile, the Deputy Minister said that these funds will be used to purchase ambulances and will be distributed in the hospitals of the vicinity to support a growing dmand for medical services and medical products.

While speaking about the investment Dr Ndugulile said that the goal of this activity was to uplift the districts of Itilima and Busega and have them the standards of other health facilities in Kenya. He also said that construction work is focused mainly on the Outpatient Department (OPD).

At least 1.2bn/- has been allocated to improve infrastructures in the districts,” he told the National Assembly. He further added that some 525 m/- was allocated for Ikindilo health centre infrastructure and 450 m/- for Nasa Health centre in Itilima and Busega respectively.

“We also allocated 240 m/- to improve infrastructure in eight dispensaries where each will get 30 m/-,” he said. He announced that during the Financial Year 2018/19, the government has allocated 1.5bn/- for the two districts to improve health infrastructures.

Tanzania Allocate Sh161.1 Billion to Healthcare

President John Magufuli has revealed that 170 health centres in Tanzania have had their facilities upgraded over the past few months. The process saw the government allocate a gargantuan amount upwards of Sh161.9 billion ($72 million) to fully complete.

On the completion of this improvement exercise, these health facilities will be fully equipped to perform emergency operations on pregnant women and children as the country continues to work towards first-class maternal and child care.

President Magufuli was quick to express his delight at this latest development at a function where he unveiled 181 vehicles worth an estimated Sh20.75 billion for the use of the Medical Stores Department (MSD). These vehicles will be used for the express purpose of transporting medical supplies throughout the country.

In addition to the up gradation of health facilities, the government has also invested heavily in the construction of 268 more health centres. Tanzania now has a grand total of 7,284 health facilities in the nation. Magufuli also reiterated his administration’s intent to continue in this vein and build more facilities, “This includes construction of regional hospitals in the new regions of Njombe, Geita, Katavi and Simiyu. We are also introducing and improving specialized services in various hospitals in the country,” he said.