‘Pay Sh15,000 only for dengue fever test’

Dodoma. Government says patients will now pay Sh15,000 down from Sh20,000 for diagnosis of dengue fever in designated public hospitals after it procured enough kits to detect the disease.

The test will be conducted at Mwanayamala, Ilala, Temeke referral hospitals in Dar es Salaam.

Others are Vijibweni Health Centre in Kigamboni municipality and Bombo Hospital in Tanga.

Patients were paying between Sh40,000 and Sh69,000 for dengue’s testing procedure. Over 1,237 dengue cases have been reported .

The deputy minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, Dr Faustine Ndugulile, told The Citizen that the procured tests have already arrived and distributed to the centres set for the monitoring of the disease. “We have provided adequate laboratory tests and additional supply is on the way. The prices have dropped to between Sh15,000 and Sh20,000,” said Dr Ndugulile.

One of the patients, Ms Neema Mushi said the costs were high for ordinary people to afford and it was unfortunate that medical insurances do not cover the service.

“I have two health insurances but when I went to the hospital they told me my insurance does not cover for the tests, so I had to pay cash. I believe there are many people who cannot afford it,” she said.

Chief medical officer Mohammed Kambi, said the ministry recognises the cost challenge in testing dengue and it was engaging the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to see how they can cover for treatment of the disease.

“We are addressing the issue by ensuring we have access to cost-effective testing services at our public facilities and we have developed a comprehensive treatment guide for our service providers,” said Prof Kambi. They have also prepared a six-month emergency plan from May to October this year to deal with the disease in the country.

“We have purchased equipment with the capacity for testing 1,870 patients and have been distributed to centres designated to monitor the disease,” he said.