Aga Khan Health Service Tanzania (AKHST)
In a bid to support government efforts in improving health and sending services close to wananchi, the Aga Khan Health Service Tanzania (AKHST) plans to open over 30 outreach centres and as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, the hospital will set up free camps for cancer screening, diabetes, blood pressure and kidney ailments.
The Aga Khan Hospital Chief Operating Officer Sisawo Konteh made the announcement earlier this week when he addressing journalists in Dar es Salaam.
“Our aim is to help people by providing quality health services at affordable prices. Patients should not hesitate to come to the centers because we have considered their income status,” he said.
Hospital, which is under the AKHST, will also as of June this year, start offering neurological services without surgery to patients with heart complications and is expected to save large amounts of funds spent by the government and individuals to take heart patients abroad.
Konteh said the hospital has set aside USD 80 million for improvement of various areas and purchase of needed modern medical equipment.
He also said Aga Khan hospital and the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) are working on the establishment of a special programme for providing chemotherapy services to cancer patients.
Dr Amyn Alidina, the hospital’s medical oncologist, said cancer-related diseases are now a problem not only in Tanzania but also in the whole globe noting that in Tanzania, the leading cancer cases are cervical cancers followed by breast cancers.
He advised cancer patients to seek proper medical treatment at early stages of the disease when intervention can have positive results.
Meanwhile, the Aga Khan Medical Director, Dr Jaffer Dharsee, said the hospital, in collaboration with Aga Khan in Kenya, will start providing Masters Degree courses at its university in Dar es Salaam. The aim is to increase the number of graduates of health services and plug the current gap of health practitioners in the country.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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