|
Minister urges more research on disease control
2005-09-03 07:46:24
By Lusekelo Philemon
The Minister for Health, Anna Abdallah, has stressed the significance of continuing with researches so as to find out an effective treatment for malaria that kills millions of people in the country every year.
The minister threw the challenge at a short farewell ceremony prepared for her by the National Institute for Medical Researches (NIMR) in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
’Malaria needs more researches in order to find out the best ways of eradicating it completely,’ she said, adding, ’we need an effective treatment for the disease that does not harm our environment.’
She observed that the full engagement in the research of the disease would bear fruits in the country.
Said she: ’Research is an important gear to flush out the outbreak of malaria that kills a large number of Tanzanians every year compared to any other disease.’
The minister encouraged researchers to stick much on researching on the treatment of malaria for sustainable development of the people.
The outgoing minister also pointed out that the ongoing success of her ministry has been made possible by efforts made by NIMR.
She said current success should be taken as challenge for doing better in providing improved health services.
She also said that poverty and illiteracy amongst people play an important role in the spread of diseases in the country.
’Our researches should also embark on this area as it contributes a lot to the fresh spread of diseases,’ she noted.
Abdallah added: ’Collaboration with other people will ensure successful researches. We need to co-operate with people from different disciplines.’
Speaking at the function, NIMR’s Managing Director, Dr Andrew Kitua, said the success of his institute was a result of good relationship between the parent ministry and other stakeholders.
On his part, NIMR’s Board Chairman, Prof Fred Mhalu, said that several researches are underway to make sure that the effective treatment for chronic diseases like malaria are conducted properly.
Prof Mhalu pointed out that the ongoing trend of the research on different reported cases including malaria, HIV/Aids and other related diseases would easily reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of attaining two per cent of the government budget to the Ministry of Health.
At the occasion, NIMR’s staff awarded the outgoing minister with a special gift to show their appreciation of her contribution to the success of the institute.
|
