Sh7bn to up health education
Prof Ephata Kaaya, the Reforming and Transforming Education project chief researcher speaks during its launch in Dar es salaam yesterday. PHOTOI OMAR FUNGO
What you need to know:
- Three medical universities in Tanzania have launched a joint project dubbed “Transforming Health Professionals Education in Tanzania (THET),” which is aimed at enhancing the delivery of healthcare services in the country.
- Implementation of the proposed project will cost at least $3 million (equivalent to Sh6.9 billion), to be run for five years.
Dar es Salaam. Three medical universities including the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (Muhas) have embarked on a joint project to come up with a common training curriculum to boost education for health professionals in Tanzania.
To begin with, the proposed project, which was officially launched on Tuesday February 19, dubbed: “Transforming Health Professionals Education in Tanzania (THET),” will involve health professionals pursuing medicine and nursing courses. The programme will later be scaled up for other health experts, with a view to enhancing delivery of healthcare services in the country.
Other project partners include the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMUCos), the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS), University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Duke University. Upon its approval by the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU), the common curriculum will be used by all the medical universities across the country.
“The aim is to ensure that graduates from different learning institutions have good quality and harmonized competencies to attend patients including those with HIV/Aids,” said Prof Ephata Kaaya, the THET’s principal investigator during the launch of the project held at MUHAS’s premises.
Currently there is no common training curriculum used in training Health Professionals in Tanzania that unifies graduates from different medical institutions.
As a consequence, the universities have not been able to generate competent health experts. Prof Kaaya said the project will cost at least $3 million (equal to Sh6.9 billion), funded by the Fogarty International Centre.
through the National Institute for Health (NIH), to be run for five years.
Further referring to the project, MUHAS director of Continuing Education and Professional Development, Dr Doreen Mloka, said: “The project seeks to make a curriculum that will unify Tanzanian medical graduates in terms of giving them clinical research competencies.”
Adding: “Each medical university is now using its own training curriculum. That’s why they produce graduates of different competencies,” said Dr Mloka.
The launching ceremony was graced by MUHAS Vice- Chancellor, Prof Apolinary Kamuhabwa, attended by various health professionals and other key stakeholders.
