Govt moves to improve primary health care
THE government will soon start providing training to medical officers in charge from 8,670 primary health facilities to enhance provision of quality services at the lower level health facilities.
The move will also help to improve supervision and adherence to medical ethics by ensuring that patients are well served to smoothen the execution of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The Director of Health, Social Welfare and Nutrition Services in President’s Office – Regional Administration and Local Government (PORALG), Dr Ntuli Kapologwe made the revelations during a 2022 Conference Report Dissemination Meeting organised by the Tanzania Tanzania Health Summit (THS).
“The government has already secured funds for financing the training… it will be conducted in different zones involving medical officers in charge of the primary health facilities. This will increase the number of people seeking medical services in health centers as well as encouraging the UHC,” he said.
He further said that, the government will also cooperate with qualified academic institutions abroad to nourish provision of quality services in areas of technology, quality services to patients and improve performance of primary health facilities which comprises 99 percent of primary health facilities in the country, said Dr Kapologwe.
“There will be mentorship programmes for junior health professionals from senior and experienced peers to prepare and encourage future leaders to head primary health facilities in the country,”
THS President, Dr Omary Chillo on his part, hailed the government’s initiatives, saying that besides promoting UHC, they would increase the number of people seeking medical services in specialized medical facilities and hence enable the country to study disease patterns.
Dr Chillo added that such an initiative will easy data collection which is crucial in influencing health policy and budgeting by allocating the needed resources by making informed decision.
“This will lead to timely medical actions and give priority to the patients at grass root level and also encourage prevention campaigns against diseases outbreaks,” he said
Dr Chillo said that even though there are approximately 2 million only Tanzanians with health insurance, surveys by THS were suggesting that about 76 percent of the country’s entire population were ready to contribute for themselves and peers to get health insurance coverage.
