Dengue fever kills 4 in Tanzania as government starts free diagnosis
Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu. Photo |Edwin Mjwahuzi
What you need to know:
- The government confirmed dengue fever outbreak on March 18, 2018 when it said 11 people had been diagnosed with the disease in Dar es Salaam.
Dodoma. The government said on Friday, June 21, 2019 that dengue fever has killed a total of four people, a rise from two deaths that were reported last month.
The minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu told the Parliament on Friday that the fever has killed a total of three people in Dar es Salaam while one died in Dodoma.
“Two dengue fever deaths have so far been reported at Regency Hospital in Dar es Salaam, one at Hindu-Mandal Hospital in Dar es Salaam and one more at the Dodoma Referral Hospital,” Ms Mwalimu said.
She was delivering the government’s statement on the dengue fever in Parliament.
The government confirmed dengue fever outbreak on March 18, 2018 when it said 11 people had been diagnosed with the disease in Dar es Salaam.
According to Ms Mwalimu, the government was taking several measures to contain spread of the disease, noting that it (the government) has ordered that diagnosis services be offered free of charge across all public hospitals and health centres.
She said the Medical Stores Department (MSD), has already bought and dispatched a total of 30,000 test kits for dengue fever to various public health facilities.
