Tanzania becomes first East African state to acquire hyperbaric machine

DAR ES SALAAM: Tanzania has become the first country in the East African region and the second in Sub-Saharan Africa to acquire a Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy machine.

The instrument was officially launched at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in the country’s business hub on Wednesday.

The state-of-the-art machine will enable the hospital to speed up the healing of carbon monoxide poisoning, gangrene, wounds that won’t heal, and infections in which tissues are starved for oxygen.

MNH’s Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy specialist, Dr. Albert Magohe, said the newly introduced technology would enable the hospital to treat diseases that were impossible to deal with before the acquisition of the 250 million Tanzanian Shillings machine.

According to MNH’s director, Prof. Mohamed Janabi, only five personnel can provide Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy service, with two of them trained at Dartmouth in the United States.