Tanzania: Local Medics Treat Thousands of Patients in the Comoros
Tanzanian doctors have treated over 2,270 patients during a medical camp conducted in the Comoros.
Executive Director of the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI), Dr Peter Kisenge, revealed this when handed over the camp report to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr Seif Shekilage.
The camp was held in November last year. The medical experts who travelled to the Comoros were drawn from the Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute (MOI), Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), JKCI, Benjamin Mkapa Hospital Dodoma and the Ocean Road Cancer Institute.
He said that out of the 2,270 patients who were treated, 221 were referred to hospitals in Tanzania and some of them have arrived in the country.
“30 per cent of them have already arrived for treatment at Tanzanian hospitals and some of them had heart problems. We have implanted them a peacemaker and we have managed to save their lives,” he said.
He said the Comoros President was grateful for the Tanzanian government’s decision to allow a group of doctors to set up a one-week camp where citizens with various problems were given specialist treatment.
“The medical camp was a huge success and has enhanced Tanzania’s reputation as a hub for medical tourism in Africa and apart from the medical opportunities, the camp has created various economic opportunities for many Comoros to better understand Tanzania and start doing business with their Tanzanian counterparts,” he said.
Dr Kisenge said Tanzania expects to receive a large number of Comorian leaders led by the country’s Ministry of Health who will come to see the huge investment made by the government in the health sector.
Dr Shekilage commended doctors who participated in the camp and promised that the government will create a conducive environment to ensure that more camps are held so as to continue making Tanzania a hub for medical tourism.
Director General of Global Medicare, which coordinated the camp in collaboration with JKCI, Mr Abdulmalik Mollel, said that more than 1,000 people were coming to the camp daily, which shows that there is a huge demand for doctors.
“For the 1,000 people to come, they had to be informed, so we Global Medicare focused on public education so that people know the services provided, it was our job to explain the services offered,” he said.
“For example, for a person with cancer, it was our duty to explain to them where to go for treatment here in Tanzania, if it was a cardiac problem we had to explain to them to go to JKCI for problems that required referral,” said Mr Mollel He commended the Comoros government for giving good hospitality to Tanzanian medics.
“Our doctors were treated well Comoros media were coming every day to interview our doctors, this also promoted Tanzania and attracted more Comorian citizens to come to Tanzania,” said Mr Mollel.
“We will continue to coordinate camps like these on the African continent to advertise the opportunities that Tanzania has and that President Samia Suluhu Hassan has invested in our hospitals, starting with expert doctors and modern medical equipment such as CT Scan MRI,” he said
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