Arusha hails Tanzanian government for 900m/-funding of the health sector

ARUSHA: THE Arusha Regional Commissioner, Mr Amos Makalla, has expressed his gratitude to the Tanzanian government for funding and supporting significant improvements in the region’s health sector.

Mr Makalla made these remarks today, September 9, 2025, while inspecting four new buildings at Meru District Hospital in Arumeru, constructed with 900m/- provided by the government to enhance healthcare services.

The new facilities include the Outpatient Department building, Laboratory building, Medicine Warehouse, Waste Incineration building, and the Emergency Ward. These buildings have started providing services to patients and have helped reduce the patient service time from eight hours to two hours.

“This investment has helped reduce the time taken to attend to patients from eight hours to two hours. Additionally, we now have 38 medical tests available here at the hospital, which has helped reduce patient referrals to referral hospitals like KCMC and Mount Meru,” said CPA Makalla.

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He added that these improvements should be fully utilized by healthcare providers to ensure quality service delivery to patients, starting from reception, respectful communication, to medical treatment.

Furthermore, Mr Makalla noted that the hospital’s budget has increased to support the purchase of medicines, medical equipment, and the renovation of the neonatal and infant care units.

On his part, the Acting Medical Officer in charge of Meru Hospital, Dr. Elisante Fabian, said these improvements have expanded the scope of services and increased the number of patients served, reduced patient service time from eight hours to two, and increased hospital revenue.

Dr. Fabian also mentioned that the hospital now has the capacity to conduct all 38 required medical tests at the district level.