Sh2bn needed for construction of district’s referral hospital

Dodoma. The Chemba District authorities in Dodoma Region have requested for about Sh2 billion from the government in the 2017/18 Fiscal Year to support construction of the district’s referral hospital, the Deputy Minister in the President’s Office (Regional Administrations and Local Government), Mr Selemani Jaffo, yesterday told the National Assembly.

He was responding to a supplementary question from Chemba MP Juma Nkamia (CCM) in parliament today, who had wanted to know as to what measures the government was taking to construct Chemba District’s referral hospital.

“Majority of people in Chemba district are often forced to travel to Kondoa and Dodoma Municipality for further medical attention because of the absence of reliable medical facilities in their district.

“Further, we have already allocated a total of 23.7 acres for constructing a district referral hospital, what the government is doing to support our efforts?,” he asked.

Responding, Mr Jaffo said the government was trying to find funds requested by the district for the purpose. “But as we try to find the money, we have decided to uplift the status of Hamai Health Center in the district in order to provide medical services to patients,” he said.

He added that the government was set to uplift the statuses of at least 100 different health centers in the country, as it was trying to have a sufficient budget for constructing referral hospitals in all new established districts.