Dar es Salaam. The European Union (EU) has provided €443,989 to four Tanzanian institutions to implement a project aimed at building the capacity of doctors and health workers to prevent and manage cross-border diseases.
The beneficiaries are Kairuki University, ReadLab, St Francis University Ifakara, and the Tanzania Training Centre for International Health (TTCIH) Ifakara.
Speaking at the launch of the BRIDGE project, St Francis University Ifakara coordinator Prof Senga Pemba said the initiative seeks to strengthen higher education and professional training in global health.
He said that the project will equip health professionals with the knowledge and skills to identify and manage diseases that spread across borders, particularly those common in Africa but also present globally.
“In this project, we are focusing on three key areas. First, we want to assess awareness of cross-border diseases among specialists, which we believe is currently low. Based on this, we will develop targeted courses to strengthen their capacity,” he said.
Prof Pemba said that the project will establish centres of excellence to oversee training and research on cross-border diseases. These centres will work with international partners to improve education and knowledge exchange.
“We will develop short-course curricula with international experts. Professionals will also have opportunities to learn from institutions abroad on disease identification and treatment,” he said.
Kairuki University Vice Chancellor Prof Iyohana Mashalla said the project was jointly developed with St Francis University Ifakara after identifying gaps in global health training.
“As institutions training doctors and nurses, we recognised a deficiency in addressing cross-border diseases. This project will train a core group of professionals who will, in turn, train others across hospitals nationwide,” he said.
Prof Mashalla noted the project will also focus on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), some of which are linked to climate change.
“We will develop courses for health professionals, and after the three-year project, we will seek additional funding to ensure its sustainability,” he said.
Ministry of Health Assistant Director Saturini Manangwa said the project will significantly strengthen the capacity of local institutions.
Professionals involved will design internationally aligned courses to improve service delivery, especially in areas such as emergency care, surgical services, and NCD management.
“These diseases are increasingly a major global health challenge. We hope this project will deliver meaningful results for institutions, service providers, and the public,” she said.
