GERMANY’s institution TanZaEye in collaboration with its stakeholder, Roman Catholic Church has constructed a state-of-the- art St Aloyce eye theater clinic in Mpanda Municipality, Katavi Region at the cost of 1.09bn/-.
The eye facility, the first of its kind since Katavi Region was officially established 2012 will serve under the prevention of avoidable blindness Programme in Western regions of Rukwa, Katavi and Kigoma through provision of comprehensive quality eye care services
Equally, TanZaEye in collaboration with the Roman Catholic Mpanda Diocese and other stakeholders will run the facility the St Aloyce Eye Clinic Centre.
In efforts to provide comprehensive quality eye care services TanZaEye has procured specialised eye equipment valued at 332m/-, which has been installed at the facility which will subsequently enable the facility to serve more than 100 patients per day.
In addition to eye examinations and treatments, cataract surgeries are also performed at the facility.
Speaking recently after inaugurating the eye theater facility Roman Catholic Sumbawanga Diocese, Right Rev Bishop Eusebius Nzingirwa said reporting late for medical treatments and poor eating habits have been cited as one of the key factors contributing to the high number of eye patients in the region in recent years.
“There is an increasing number of individuals with eye diseases in our region in recent years due to various reasons including poor eating habits and reporting late for treatments.
However, we are working hard in collaboration with the Katavi regional government, TanZaEye institution and its stakeholders to deal with the problem,” said Bishop Nzigirwa.
On his side the Resident Representative for TanZaEye, Linuma Rainer said the construction of the eye clinic and procurement of medical equipment have cost more than 1.09bn/-
Giving a breakdown Rainer said that more than 658m/- has been spent on the construction of the facility, while 332m/- has been utilised for the procurement of medical and non-medical devices.
On his side, TanZaEye Programme Director Dr Karsten Paust said the facility will have the eye care surgical outreach clinic, the cataract surgeon for eye care surgical services as well as optometrists and ophthalmic nurses.
Initially, the Katavi Regional Medical Officer (RMO) Dr Jonathan Budenu said citizens should be provided education and awareness on the importance of regular examinations of eye related diseases and timely treatment.
“Education and awareness raising is important otherwise individuals will continue seeking treatment from ‘traditional healers’ who tend to treat eye problems in the region by using local herbs and other traditional means.
Worse still most of these treatments are unsuccessful and causes those affected to go completely blind’ emphasised RMO
He further explained that initially patients were sent to Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in Dar es Salaam and KCMC for referral treatment.
“About 192,000 people which is equivalent with one per cent residents of Katavi Region have been diagnosed with eye complications in 2022,” noted Dr Budenu.
