BMH Specialist team camps in Masasi as it honours Benjamin Mkapa’s healthcare vision  

MASASI: OVER 500 residents in Masasi District, Mtwara Region have been targeted by the medical outreach programme aiming at upholding the former President Benjamin Mkapa’s legacy on extending specialist medical services to underserved communities across the country.

The five-day health camp in Mbuyuni Ward, which is jointly organized by the Benjamin Mkapa Hospital (BMH), Benjamin William Mkapa Foundation, Surgery, Obstetrics, Trauma and Anesthesia Convoys (SOTAC) and Masasi District Council Hospital began on Monday and is scheduled to conclude on Friday, June 5, 2026..

Speaking in an exclusive interview today, June 1, 2026, BMH’s Camp Coordinator and Team Leader, Dr Emiliana Myovela said the health programme comes at the time when BMH and the Benjamin William Mkapa Foundation are marking 10- and 20-years anniversary respectively, reflecting the role of the third president in boosting healthcare across the country.

“In this particular time, we are remembering the founder of Benjamin Mkapa Foundation, the one who carries the name of the Benjamin Mkapa Hospital,” Dr Myovela said.

Adding “we have decided to collaborate to bring healthcare to Masasi people where Benjamin Mkapa came from,”

Dr Myovela said the camp features eight specialist doctors including cardiologists (dealing with heart disease), ophthalmologist (eye specialist), general surgeon, nephrologist dealing with kidney and physician as well as anaesthesiologist who deals with sleep issues.

She said the five-day camp brings closer specialist services to Masasi residents who could hardly access the medical care in remote areas or follow noble specialist services far away to Dodoma, Dar es Salaam, even beyond the country’s borders.

Dr Myovela said the camp also provides a platform for the camp specialist medical personnel to exchange knowledge with the host doctors in Masasi.

She said after conducting the health camp in Mtwara, the hospital is also planning to visit Iringa and later on Malawi, the neighbouring country.

She reminded that last year (2025), the BMH also had a camp in Burundi where hundreds of patients underwent specialist medical services.

Head of Department of Cardiology and Cardiothoracic at BMH , Dr John Meda said the medical camp serves as the reminder for the residents to carry out health checks repeatedly on Non- Communicable Diseases (NCDs) including heart diseases so as to seek treatment timely.

Dr Meda noted that initial observation and examinations at the ongoing health camp show that many residents lack health check-ups as the basis for them to understand their health status including the diseases encountering them.

Regarding the status of NCDs in the country, Dr Meda said the diseases are predominantly in the urban areas including Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Mwanza and Arusha due to the fact that in those areas many people have few physical activities which could make them lose sugar and burn excess fats.

He noted that this challenge is also emerging in growing towns including Masasi where people are changing their lifestyles by becoming physically inactive.

Dr Meda called citizens both in rural and urban areas to cultivate a culture of health check and physical exercises in efforts of reducing NCD cases.

Masasi District Council Hospital’s Medical Officer, Mr Abdul Issa said the medical camp enables doctors at the local hospital to gain news skills from specialist doctors.

He said they will replicate the new knowledge for advanced treatment in the future.

He said the camp equips Masasi Hospital staff with skills to cure emerging diseases including diabetes and hypertension.

In a related development, SOTAC’s Director of Operations, Mr Robert-Roel Van Den Bos said their organisation which is based in Netherland has been facilitating BHM outreach services by providing logistics supports encompassing mobile trucks such as an operating theatre and a pharmacy unit and storage truck.

He appreciated the BHM staff for demonstrating unmatched competencies in using the equipment to deliver desired results to rural areas across the country.

Meanwhile, Programme Manager of Clubfoot at the Benjamin Mkapa Foundation, Dr Emmanuel Kowero said health camp is marked along with a climax commemoration of the Clubfoot Day which all together will be officially inaugurated on June 3.

The medical pundits provide advanced healthcare services, consultations, treatment, screenings, surgeries and health education.