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US hands over 90m/- ambulances
2006-02-01 07:54:01
By Peter Tindwa
The US government has donated two ambulances valued at US$80,000 (88m/-) to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
The vehicles were handed over to Prof David Mwakyusa, Minister of Health and Social Welfare, by US ambassador Michael Retzer in Dar es Salaam on Monday.
Retzer said the vehicles had been donated under the first phase of the Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Project, which was initiated shortly after the 1998 bombing of the American embassy in Dar es Salaam.
The project is a collaborative effort involving the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Disaster Management Department in the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Health and the Tanzania Red Cross Society (TRCS).
’The project has greatly improved Tanzania’s capacity to respond quickly in the event of either natural or man-made disasters and to emergencies in general,’ Retzer said in his speech.
He added that the project had enabled the Ministry of Health to establish and staff emergency preparedness and response units all over the country.
About US$1.8 million (2bn/-) has been spent under the project on purchasing emergency medical equipment and supplies for a number of locations in the country.
The project also had funded TRCS first aid training and public awareness campaigns aimed at increasing the understanding of disaster management and first aid skills.
’The US is committed to improving the lives of Tanzanians.
Our embassy is working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, other government entities and private groups to address some of the most serious challenges facing Tanzanians,’ Retzer said.
He added that the US government had been disbursing US$100 million (110bn/-) annually to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS and another US$ 11 million (12bn/-) for the war against malaria.
Prof Mwakyusa commended the US government for its continued material and technical support to Tanzania, saying the assistance had increased the country’s capacity to respond quickly to natural and man-made disasters from time to time.
’The frequency of disasters has been increasing in Tanzania, leading to loss of life. Such disasters are sometimes not well managed due to lack of necessary equipment like ambulances and lack of skilled personnel,’ he said.
Prof Mwakyusa said US assistance to the health sector in Tanzania had enabled the Ministry of Health to offer short-term training courses on disaster management in 16 module hospitals.
He urged other US agencies to emulate to the US government’s continued support to Tanzania as the country strived to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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