Arusha — Loliondo division, not only the second largest but also a remotest division of Ngorongoro District, is under a nasty experience as it depends on a single health facility of Wasso District Designated hospital.
But the Wasso Hospital has problems of its own that include acute shortage of over 70 patient beds, limited medical personnel and regular visits from ferocious wild animals and patients who escape without footing their medical bills, aided by the fact that the entire health centre does not have a fence.
In an effort to reduce some of the problems facing the DDH, the Ortello Business Corporation, the leisure hunting establishment operating in Loliondo, has just given the Wasso District Designated Hospital a shot in the arm, worth 60 million/- in form of assorted medical facilities.
OBC through its Director, Mr Isaac Mollel, donated 50 hospital beds complete with 50 mattresses, 200 bedsheets, 50 blankets and 50 rolls of Mackintosh covers; “We are very much aware that the hospital has more needs than what our company has just provided but we intend to give more in future,” said Mollel.
The Wasso Hospital in-charge, Dr Emmanuel Mallange, stated that being located in the remote area of Ngorongoro, the facility served not only Loliondo division but also the adjacent Sale Division with some of the patients coming from the neighbouring villages mapped within the Ngorongoro Division and that Wasso DDH handled a minimum of 1000 patients per month and nearly 20,000 in a year.
“Shortages of medical facilities, medical staff and funds have always taken toll onto the hospital,” stated Dr Mallange, taking the time to thank Ortello management for the donation and appealing to other investors in the area to follow suit.
The Ngorongoro District Commissioner (DC), Mr Hashim Mgandilwa, said Loliondo despite being a remote location, was one of the investor-friendly and tourists destination in Arusha Region, which should be assured of reliable medical services since it receives many domestic and foreign visitors. Being located near the borderline separating Tanzania and Kenya, sometimes Wasso Hospital is forced to treat aliens and this is where some other problems arise.
“Sick people come here with serious health problems, some getting admitted here as in-patients for weeks but after receiving treatments and getting cured, most of them disappear without trace, leaving astounding bills behind,” revealed the management.
The lack of fencing also makes the hospital to be readily accessible to hyenas and other wild animals that prowl Wasso area at night. Loliondo and Wasso are mapped within the wildlife rich, Game Controlled Area.
Late last year, the immediate former Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda donated two ambulances to serve in the Ngorongoro District and he directed that one of the vehicles should be sent to the Wasso District Designated Hospital.
Among other challenges, Wasso Hospital lacks ambulance to cater for outreach health services in the mostly remote villages of Loliondo and Sale where majority of women and children die while giving birth at home or on their way to hospital.