PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has dished out 6.3bn/- for purchasing medical equipment for the establishment of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Minister for Health Ms Ummy Mwalimu said the government through her docket is working hard to ensure that all hospitals in the country establish special wards for premature newborns (NICU).
The major objective of carrying out the project is ensure the service goes up to the community level.
Ms Mwalimu made the remarks in Dar es Salaam yesterday during the preparations of the second phase of distribution of medical equipment to all hospitals with NICU.
“We want all hospitals in the country to have NICUs, and we plan to extend the services up to primary health care facilities because 70 per cent of expectant mothers give birth at dispensaries and health centres,” she said.
The minister further said that President Samia has dished out 6.3bn/- for purchasing the medical equipment for the special wards.
“We express our gratitude to President Samia for providing the funds … we have already purchased the equipment and started to distribute them. We continue to distribute the equipment to more than 80 hospitals in the country,” the minister said.
She called upon expectant mothers across the country to report to the health facilities earlier so as to get services earlier and detect any complication to serve lives of both mother and a child.
“We can serve the lives of our newborns and premature babies if the mothers will attend the antenatal clinic earlier and receive appropriate healthcare services,” she said.
According to the Ministry of Health, in 2019/2020, the number of expectant mothers who completed four or more antenatal care visits was 77 per cent compared to 41 per cent in the same period in 2015/2016.
Statistics also indicate that the number of women who give birth in health facilities increased to 83 per cent in March 2020, compared to 64 per cent the same period in 2015/16.
While launching the ‘Research on Productive Health Rights for Urban and Rural Women through the Media organised by Tanzania Media Women’s Association (TAMWA) last month, Minister Mwalimu was quoted as saying Tanzania was on the right track in efforts to improve maternal, mother and child health services.
She said Tanzania signed various international and regional agreements for the objective of improving maternal, mother and child health.
The minister said that it should be noted that Tanzania implements those international agreements by including maternal and child health issues in all its plans, starting from the Third Five-Year Development Plan (2021/2022 – 2024/2025) and the Fifth Strategic Plan for the Health Sector (2021/2022 – 2024/2025).
“All these plans are implemented by the ministry through National Plan for Maternal, Mother, Child and Nutrition Health (One Plan III),” she was quoted as saying.
She said that the ministry continues to ensure that reproductive health rights are available throughout the country, including purchasing and distributing contraceptive products.
