The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar through the Ministry of Health has said it will continue to strengthen various services for the elderly in Unguja and Pemba, including health services in hospitals.
The Deputy Minister of Health Zanzibar Hassan Khamis Hafidh said this when he opened the annual meeting to assess health issues for the elderly through a project to strengthen the environment for healthy aging.
He said that the Ministry of Health has already strengthened services for the elderly in various hospitals and health centers as well as providing them with essential needs including medicines to be able to get rid of various diseases including NCD non-infectious diseases.
He has informed that the Ministry of Health will make an effort for the elderly when they arrive at hospitals and health centers to get services easily and not to be inconvenienced in getting treatment.
He has said that there are some hospital staff who do not provide good services to the elderly and make some of the elderly and many citizens who go to get services lose faith and rush to other hospitals including those in Tanzania mainland, so he said that due to this situation he has asked them to change in practice and be able to provide good services.
On the part of the Secretary of the Elderly Communities in Zanzibar JUWAZA Salama Kombo has said that due to the limitations and problems that the elderly face on getting better health, they continue to plan many things to be able to get better health services.
SHe has informed that the community of the elderly and retirees have requested this special project which has been implemented in 2022 and will arrive in December 2024 and to be able to inform the elderly about non-communicable diseases that have become a global problem due to changing of lifestyles.
For his part, the Health and Assessment Officer from Help Age Martha Jerome has said that the aim of the meeting is to share the best methods used in the implementation of the project in order to develop various plans and interventions.
He said other goals are to prepare an implementation plan for various things involving best practices and to see how they will be included in various implementation plans and policies.
And the Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases in Zanzibar, Dr. Omar Mohamed Suleman, has said that through the Division of Non-Communicable Diseases, they have prepared a special strategy to invest in the issues of the elderly to access health services
