By Our Reporter, Dodoma Minister of State, Office of the Prime Minister, Labour, Youth, Employment…
Adela Madyane and Prosper Kwigize
For several decades the Kigoma region, like other regions in Tanzania, has been facing many health challenges that lead a large group of women to live in doubt and others to experience disabilities, diseases and deaths resulting from childbirth.
These challenges are one of the reasons why society embraces dangerous customs and practices for women and even infants during pregnancy, childbirth and the period of child rearing.
“With this poverty that we have, how can you attend a clinic or travel long distances by walking or being transported by bicycle while you are in pain? We are very hurt, we had to rely on traditional midwives who historically had help many of our fellow women have lost their lives, some have even suffered from shameful diseases like fistula, childbirth we started to see it as a matter of death or recovery” said one of the women of Kigondo village in Kasulu who identified herself as Mariam Hamis after witnessing the WHO handing over ambulances to the head of Kigoma region
Some pregnant mothers in the Kigoma region have said that despite the efforts made by the government and non-governmental organizations in dealing with deaths caused by childbirth complications, there is still a challenge of transportation in rural areas, which leads many of them to give birth at home or on the way, traveling long distances to health centers
They say long distance from health facility, costs inquired to reach the health facility and means of transport which is mainly bodaboda and boat unreliable diagnostic equipment, inadequate referral systems and inadequate health workers are the main hindrance to quality services especially in villages along Lake Tanganyika.
Aisha Ramadhan a pregnant women from Mwamgongo ward, in Kigoma district say, she had once lost her baby while travelling form her village to Maweni referral, regional hospital using lake transport because she lacked services at the ward health center saying that the doctor was not around.
“I had to wait for the boat from Kagunga to pass so that I can go to Maweni for medical assistant, unfortunately it was too late for the baby was coming out, when I reached at Gombe, I gave birth to a dead child, I had no option, I went back home for burial process” Says Ramadhan.
She laments that due to absence of doctor for most of the time at the center, they get services from pharmacist who sometimes acts as a midwives and serves pregnant women who are in pain of getting birth and asks the government to support them with ambulances or any other safely transport infrastructures to save the lives of mother and child.
On her side Odilia Sunzu from Kidyama in Kasulu district says she walks for more than an hour to reach to Kiganamo health center because she cannot afford the cost of hiring bodaboda or Bajaj due to the poverty she is living in and that it becomes more harsh during rainy season and asks the government to set the modality of transport that will assist them to get the services nearby because many of them suffer the ling walking distance.
She said though there is a presence of dispensary, it cannot serve all the services required by a pregnant woman especially to women who have undergone obstetric hemorrhage whereas when such scenario happens they will required to lend bodaboda with high price, failure to do so can lead to death on a pregnant woman and child.
According to Mark Schreiner a representative from United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA) said 30 women die daily in Tanzania due to pregnancy complications and child birth while in Kigoma region for the period of 2022, the total of 102 maternal death were reported, and since January to date 26 women have died due.
Tackling the issue of transport World Health Organization (WHO) has provided two ambulance worth 175 million to support the reginal three years contingency plan which aims at improving quality of health services and reducing the number of maternal and prenatal deaths.
Speaking on Dr. Nemes Iriya from WHO said, the other main challenge causing death is weak referral system that is why they have decided to donate the ambulances to boost transportation so that it can be ease to make referral whenever complications happen to a pregnant woman so as to get proper medication and that they will keep supporting the efforts of the government whenever they can to save life.
The two ambulance will add on the 21 ambulances available in Kigoma region with total of two million people according to 2022 censor, the two ambulance they will serve Kigoma and Buhigwe districts.
Along with these vehicles, the World Health Organization (WHO) has provided various medical equipment for health centers, clinics and hospitals in the Kigoma region. Recently, WHO released 10 Ultra sounds that will solve the challenge of lack of research tools and tests for patients, a challenge that forced patients to go to Muhimbili or Bugando to seek these services
Other partners, Mary O’ Neill, Ireland ambassador encourages the health workers under maternity wards saying they have a special jobs and that they are delighted to get quality facilities to accomplish their work in a good manner because they serve life they and that they will continue partnership with the government especially in building maternity wards to deliver good services, as under Kigoma joint operated under UN agencies’ 17 maternity wards have been built.
Habari Zaidi
