The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar through the Ministry of Health has made major reforms in the Health Sector by strengthening services including medical equipment and continuing to educate workers to be able to have expert and skilled professionals who will provide high quality services.
This statement said by the Second Vice President of Zanzibar Hemed Suleiman Abdulla at the opening of the discussion meeting of development stakeholders regarding the financing of health services in Zanzibar with the aim of achieving the dignity of good health for all, held at the Golden Tulip Hotel Hall near to the Zanzibar Airport.
He said that in order to ensure that the Government provides good health services to all citizens, it has decided to make a major investment in health infrastructure, including building ten (10) hospitals in each district, as well as being able to appoint expert and professional experts to strengthen the best health services for all citizens.
The Second Vice President of Zanzibar has said that in order to achieve the dignity of Health for all, the Government has strengthened the availability of medicines in the country, the availability of food for patients in parallel with increasing the scope of medical treatment for citizens such as kidney cleaning service (DIALYSIS). where before the citizens had to spend the high costs of the treatment and some lost their lives due to lack of funds to cover the service.
The Vice-President has said that the Government has strengthened diagnostic equipment including XRAY, CT-SCAN, MRI, ULTRA SOUND and various laboratory equipment as well as strengthening medical equipment by building two (2) Air Treatment plants (OXYGEN PLANTS) in the Urban West Region hospital – Lumumba which will be used in various hospitals in Zanzibar.
He said the Government will continue to create a better health environment by hiring 1,566 new employees for the financial year 2024/2025, building regional hospitals, the Binguni Referral hospital as well as providing opportunities for health workers to develop themselves educationally and build the capacity of doctors and specialists to be able to to bring more efficiency in the provision of Health services to citizens.
In line with that, the Second Vice President of Zanzibar has said that in solving various challenges, the Government continues to make reforms in the system of financing Health services, including establishing the Zanzibar Health Services System under Law number 1 of 2023 and given the responsibility to ensure access of the best health services for all citizens living in Zanzibar.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Health, Deputy Minister of Health Zanzibar Hon. Hassan Khamis Hafidh has said that the purpose of the Zanzibar Health Services Funding Meeting is to hold a joint discussion between Ministry of Health officials, development partners and Health stakeholders to find professional alternatives that will enable the Government through the Ministry of Health to to pay for medical services for all citizens of Zanzibar.
The Deputy Minister has said that the cost of medical care in the world has been increasing day to day, which leads to many citizens not being able to contribute to this service when necessary, so the revolutionary government of Zanzibar has seen the need to sit together with development stakeholders to find the best way to help reduce the challenge and ensure every Zanzibari can get the best medical services free of charge.
On the part of the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Health Zanzibar, Dr Mngereza Mzee Miraji, said that in this period of the eighth phase, the Ministry of Health has been able to implement various things, including strengthening the health infrastructure, sending employees to study within and outside the country.
Development partners, including Pharm Access and WHO, have said that the meeting will be a springboard for access to good and equitable health services for all Zanzibari residents free of charge.
They have said that access to quality health services depends on the presence of effective policies, strategies, human resources and financial resources, especially in achieving the Government’s Eighth Phase (8) goal to cover medical services for all its citizens.
