Govt Appreciates WHO Support in Curbing Marburg Virus

By STAFF REPORTER, In Dar es Salam

THE government has expressed to have been impressed with the positive manner to which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been demonstrating cooperation in supporting efforts to curb the Marburg Virus.

According to the Deputy Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Grace Maghembe, WHO's support toward curtailing the ‘dangerous virus’ have so far enabled the country to prevent its further spread to other regions across the country, thus winning the diseases which threatened citizens' lives.

She said it was prudent for the African countries to be facilitated accordingly in order to improve the health ecosystem that will allow them to prevent and understand viral diseases for timely response to stop them when they occur.

Ms. Maghembe called upon the WHO to design legal frameworks for medicine and vaccine manufacturing, market for health equipment, transfer of technology and medical research for African nations to have the ability of confronting emerging diseases outbreak on time as the developed nations do.

Pertaining to the fighting a spate of Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STD) across the country, especially the Acquire Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Dr Maghembe expressed that the country has made great achievements by getting into the list of five countries which hit the 95-95-95 global target on mitigating AIDS.

She was speaking during her remarks on behalf of the Minister for portfolio, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, at the WHO Africa meeting which convened recently, attracted the continent health ministers in Gaborone City, Botswana

The 95-95-95 targets is the United Nations (UN) benchmark on fighting AIDS that ensure diagnose 95 per cent of all HIV-positive individuals, provision of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to 95 per cent of those diagnosed and achieve viral suppression to 95 per cent of those treated by 2030.

"So far in our country 95 per cent of people with AIDS have been screened to know their health condition of which 98 per cent are using antiretroviral while 97 of them have achieved viral suppression," Dr Maghembe infomed.

She added that the country, under President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan, was utilising a various approach to boost provision of health services such as medical infrastructural expansion among other hospitals, dispensaries, inputting modern medical equipment as well as adding doctors for smooth delivery of services.

And she added, the six phase government has so far employed at least 29,000 health services providers of whom 80 per cent have been allocated to dispensaries, health centres and district hospitals.