DODOMA: THE Ministry of Health has pledged to continue collaborating with Amref to implement various projects aimed at empowering communities to address health challenges in the area of comprehensive prevention, care and treatment of HIV.
The initiative aims to accelerate progress toward achieving the 95-95-95 targets to control the epidemic by 2030.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr John Jingu made the remarks in Dodoma this week while opening a meeting between experts from the Ministry of Health and Amref to discuss the “Afya Thabiti” project being implemented under the funding of Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in the Mara and Simiyu regions.
Dr Jingu said that the main agenda under President Samia Suluhu Hassan is to ensure that high-quality healthcare services reach every Tanzanian, noting that joints efforts were needed between the government and stakeholders including Amref in order to achieve the goal.
“We all agree that whenever there are health challenges such as disease outbreaks, they are largely driven by social determinants. Therefore, this issue must continue to be emphasised to ensure we achieve positive outcomes where everyone has access to healthcare services,” said Dr Jingu.
He also said that after conducting an assessment of the discussions, it will help in project implementation.
“It will ensure that everyone has a shared understanding and knows the purpose of these projects, the challenges they face and how to address them.” Dr Jingu also called upon stakeholders to ensure that other stakeholders and the private sector recognise the benefits of the interventions being implemented under the project.
“When other stakeholders see that the interventions in place will help them by reducing costs or increasing productivity, they will not hesitate to contribute where needed,” said Dr Jingu.
Dr Jingu commended Amref for taking a leading role in collaborating with the ministry to address various health challenges in the society.
“You have been key partners in building the capacity of healthcare providers to address health challenges, as this is a crucial tool in achieving universal health coverage,” said Dr Jingu.
