Private-public partnership boosts healthcare

Residents of Tanzania's northern regions of Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Manyara will benefit from improved diagnostic services after the installation of an ultra-modern laboratory at the Mt Meru Hospital in Arusha town.

"The hospital can now provide automated testing crucial for the diagnosis and continued monitoring of HIV/AIDS and many other diseases," Health Minister David Mwakyusa said on 27 June during the inauguration ceremony.

“Improvements have tripled capacity at the laboratory, which is now able to serve up to 150 patients each day compared to 45 patients prior to the renovations,” he added.

Mwakyusa said the modernised laboratory would help to improve healthcare for an estimated four million people in the area.

Abbot Fund, an international healthcare company, funded the improvements as well at the training of staff and upgrading of clinics at the hospital.

Abbot Fund's chairman and chief executive officer, Miles White, announced that the firm would upgrade all 23 regional hospitals in Tanzania. The firm is spending at least US$50 million in a unique public-private partnership with the Tanzanian government to strengthen the healthcare system.

The firm will also provide one million free rapid HIV tests, White said. A recent survey showed that about 7 percent of the adult population in Tanzania are infected with the HIV virus.

Like many countries in Africa, Tanzania continues to face significant healthcare challenges. Life expectancy is 48 years, about 30 years less that of many European countries.

Moreover, Tanzania has just one doctor for every 24,000 patients, according to government statistics.

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