Tanzania like many poor developing countries has a lot of problems in different sectors, health care is one of those big problem the country has yet to address. I grew up in a village called Nyamuswa in Bunda district and experianced this problem first hand.
There was a health center back then, the same health center with the same buildings still there today.This health center provides medical services to a many people from Nyamuswa/Makongoro and other villages which don’t have health centers; Sarawe, Marambeka, Bukama, Kiroleli, Kambubu, Salama kati, Salama A to mention a few.
This health center is the only government clinic in the area, its laboratory has only one ill-equipped microscope and the center has a limited supply of medications. Most people (with income under $1 per day) purchase medication directly from local medical stores (Maduka ya dawa baridi) which are run by people with no medical oversight but sells everything from OTC to prescription medications!
Patients from those villages I have mentioned before walk on foot for miles to get to Nyamuswa health center for medical care. When the health center can’t help them because lack of equipments and sometimes expertise, they are refered Bunda which is about 23 km away or Musoma about 51 km away. Remember this health center doesn’t have an ambulance to take them there, it up to the patinets to rent a car there God knows when! Sometimes people have ended up dying because they can’t raise money on a timely manner to rent a car to get to Bunda or Musoma.
ii.Story from Nyamuswa
A pregnant woman delivered a baby at home, after 2 days her stomach began to swell and was in severe pain. She was taken to Nyamuswa health center for treatment. The doctor at the center told her that he couldn’t help her, she needs to get advanced care from Bunda or Musoma. The family didn’t have money to rent a car and since there
is no ambulance at this health caenter to take her to Bunda or Musoma, the woman
remained in pain and her stomach continued to swell to the point where she died 8 days later! Her baby due lack of proper care died after few
months. These deaths could be avoided if there was an ambulance or any kind of
transportation at this dispensary which could have taken her with the baby to Bunda or even Musoma.
This true story from Nyamuswa highlights the needs of medical transportation (an ambulance) in order to have a way to properly deal with emergencies particularly maternity emergencies and accidents. Currently the only way to
transfer a patient to the hospital (Bunda or Musoma) is to rent a car. This
creates three key problems; first of all, it takes long time to get a car because most people are poor, it takes them a while to come up with the money needed to rent a car. Secondly, the car has to follow traffic rules so it can take a long time to reach the hospital Bunda or Musoma hospital particularly in rush hours. Thirdly, a patient cannot be provided care in the rented car.
I take this opportunity to ask friends and fellow with means from Nyamuswa and surrounding villages to join us in the effort to equip this health center with tools and medical equipments. also this dispensary need a form of reliable transportation to take referal patients to Bunda or Musoma. Please visit our website to give us a hand, lets help people of Nyamuswa, together we can make a difference!