CCBRT Hospital in Dar gets a boost of Sh. 17bn/

TANZANIA government on Friday last week signed a grant agreement of Euros 8 million (Sh. 17bn/) with the government of the Federal Republic of German under which the latter will support the CCBRT Baobab maternity and Newborn Hospital which currently is under construction in Dar es Salaam. The Permanent Secretary of the ministry of Finance, Ramadhani Khijjah signed the agreement on behalf of the government in a colorful ceremony which was held at the ministry’s headquarter in the city. During the occasion, the German government was represented by Wolfgang Soizbacher who is the country director of a major German financial institution with an office based in Dar es Salaam city. KfW is a leading financial institution in German with offices in various African countries and has the major task to give assistances in developing nations within Africa region.   The PS said that, the money will help speed up the extension of the hospital whose aim is to increase its medical services upon its completed in 2015, and added that, the support reflects the cordial relationship that exists between the two countries. The newly constructed hospital is a result of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the government and the Comprehensive and Community Based Rehabilitation of Tanzania (CCBRT) which started way back in 2007 in which Tanzania government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) However, the PS informed the KfW director that, the CCBRT hospital has been helping in delivering health services to most Tanzanian women and children who suffers various health complications including a most notorious fistula disease from various parts in the country. The hospital was established in the country in 1994 and is highly specialized in the performing of the eye surgeries and engages extensively in other medical services. For example in 2012 alone, the hospital performed 7,750 eye surgeries, it received 243 club feet patients for surgery and performed 428 cleft lip and palate surgeries. Other medical cases the hospital has extensively attended during 2012 includes, reconstructive and other orthopedic surgeries and has also produced 1,347 prosthetics. “This is a remarkable performance of health service delivery in the country of which otherwise was supposed to be done by the government” the PS remarked during the signing ceremony. However, he noted that, the successful completion of this hospital will significantly contribute to the government’s efforts on its provision of high quality of health services to women and children, hence reducing the maternal and infant mortality rate in the country. The German government will be the fifth co-financing partner in this project which started in 2012 when President Jakaya Kikwete laid a foundation stone, and later on is expected to become a referral hospital in the country.  The preceding partners who have co-financed the project include Swiss Development Agency, Netherlands Development Agency, an American foundation known as ELMA and a local Vodafone foundation. Maternal and infant mortality rates are high in Tanzania and an estimated quarter of a million women each year will develop a disability as a result of pregnancy and childbirth. The majority of these deaths and disabilities can be prevented with improved maternal and newborn healthcare.  The new hospital, which will also serve as a training centre in maternal and newborn health, is currently managed by CCBRT the largest indigenous provider of disability services in Tanzania The hospital is located in Msasani, off Kimweri Avenue and on its completion will provide high quality health services. The aim is to support vulnerable mothers and newborns and to assist with improving human resource capacity in the Tanzania health system.