Demand for protective gears against Covid-19 high in Tanzania says MAT

Dar es Salaam. There is still a pressing need to increase the supply of Personal Protective equipment for health workers and the general public because the risk remains high, the President of the Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT) Dr Elisha Osati has said.

Dr Osati was speaking during the 6^th Mwananchi Thought Leadership Forum on Thursday May 14  where he said  that for the healthcare system to be able to take care of those infected, there has to be enough equipment for prevention otherwise community transmission of coronavirus may scale up.

“Currently we have adequate equipment in isolation centres for medical staff but not among the general public. There have been efforts from the government and stakeholders to ensure these are obtained, but the demand is still high,’’ he said.

Explaining, he said when the disease was first announced, there was so much public fear but lately , the fear has began to subside.

He said there is need to start thinking of how to integrate the disease in our routine health services now that the World Health organization (WHO) is saying that the virus may stick around for a long time.

“The virus may last long but there is need to integrate it to other health services by looking at how to handle other patients together with Covid-19,” he said.

He further said women experts in the health sector including nurses and doctors are facing huge challenges because they have a huge responsibility to take care of the sick and still go home to their families.

“They have to learn to balance how to deal with the disease among their patients but also live a normal life.  I know this is a big challenge because my wife is also a doctor and she has to return home and find her family waiting for her ,” he said.