Regional, zonal hospitals to get medical specialists

What you need to know:

The minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, said the move follows President John Magufuli’s directive on November 25 when he was inaugurating the Mlonganzila campus of Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences.

Dar es Salaam. The government will ensure that medical specialists are distributed accordingly countrywide to regional and zonal hospitals to improve healthcare as reports show 60 per cent of them are in Dar es Salaam.

The minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, said the move follows President John Magufuli’s directive on November 25 when he was inaugurating the Mlonganzila campus of Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences.

Such specialists include gynaecologists/obstetricians, paediatricians, surgeons, radiologists, anaesthesiologists and orthopaedicians.

Ms Mwalimu told the state broadcaster yesterday that she had held talks with Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan and officials in the President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government on how to implement Dr Magufuli’s order.

“It’s true that Tanzania has a shortage medical specialists but the problem has been exacerbated by poor distribution of doctors, as the president hinted. We are implementing the president’s directive. We are now collecting data.”