Opening an
international cardiovascular diseases conference in Dar es Salaam, President
Kikwete said many Tanzanians — men and women - were dying of heart-related
diseases annually, a trend which required effective interventions and strategic
support of development partners in order to reverse it.
“In fact, the number
of deaths caused by cardiovascular complications is quite alarming, and our
capacity to control this situation is very low,” the president said at the
official opening of the first international conference on cardiovascular
diseases, organised jointly by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and
US-based international organization, dubbed “Madaktari
Africa.”
“Across the East
African region, cardiovascular-related deaths is on the increase due to many
factors, including changing lifestyles,” he added.
With reference to
Tanzania, Kikwete said the problem was compounded by critical shortage of
appropriate diagnosis, equipment (and facilities), treatment and competent human
resources.
“Because of these
shortfalls, lives of millions are now at risk. We thank Madaktari Africa for
their support, through this programme, in building human resource capacity of
our health experts,” said President at the two-day training programme which drew
participants from Africa countries and beyond.
He explained that the
government of Tanzania was trying to address shortage of cardiology
professionals by sending some of the heath experts for studies abroad. The
strategy enables local health experts acquire required skills and knowledge for
detection and treatment of cardiovascular cases.
In his remarks, Health
and Social Welfare Minister, Dr Haji Mponda said Tanzania was leading in sending
heart patients to India for treatment of cardiovascular related
complications.
“These
patients account for about 60 per cent of all patients referred outside the
country for medical care,” he said.
Latest government
reports show that a lot of money is being spent to facilitate treatment of heart
patients outside the country, thus holding back the country’s economic growth
and development.
According to the
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Blandina
Nyoni, during the last financial year, the government spent about 9bn/- for
treatment of heart patients abroad, particularly India.
“And during this
financing year ending in July, my ministry is expecting to spend 13bn/-for
financing treatment of heart patients outside the country. This is a huge burden
to the country’s economy…,” said Nyoni in an exclusive interview on the
sidelines of the meeting.
She described the
on-going training programme, which is facilitated by cardiovascular specialists
from different parts of the world, as a potent tool for building capacity of
Tanzanian health experts in the detection and treatment of hearts-related
complications.
Nyoni said the
government was finalising construction of a complex for cardiac surgery,
treatment and training at the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), which is
expected to be officially inaugurated soon.
“We are now equipping
the complex with proper, modern and standard facilities before the official
opening…again, this is part of long-term measures undertaken by the government
to build national capacity in taking care of cardiovascular cases, thereby
saving billions used for treating these patients abroad,” she
noted.
In April, 2009
Madaktari Afrika signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of
Health and Social Welfare to build local capacity in training, equipment,
research, data analysis and publications of cases related to cardiovascular
diseases, according to Dr Mponda.
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