ROBUST collaborations with various stakeholders is needed to increase the number of medical specialists in Zanzibar hospitals, President Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi has declared.

Zanzibar presidential communications statement said that the president issued this appeal on Thursday at the State House during a meeting with Dr Suzan Homeida, the founder and CEO of Frontierpoly21 based in the Rwandese capital of Kigali.

The Sudanese medical consultant heads the Frontier Polyclinic and Diagnostic Centre seemingly set up in 2021 in the wake of the deepening civil strife in her country, specialising in “more health info and tips you need in life,” with internet links identified as #Health #healthcare #HealthyLiving #MedicareForAll, the latter forming the sphere of discussions with the Isles leader.

Such collaboration will help reduce the number of Zanzibaris seeking medical treatment abroad, especially for non-communicable diseases like heart, cancer, spine and brain, he said, asking Frontierpoly21 to look at the possibility to get trained medics and specialists from Sudan.

The government in Zanzibar seeks to increase the district hospitals capacity, where Dr Homeida could work with Zanzibar on increasing the capacity of the Lumumba Regional Hospital, lacking skilled professionals in a number of areas, the president indicated.

Zanzibar needs more collaboration in specialised heart surgery, cancer and the nervous system involving the spinal cord and brain, he said, noting that a lot of money is spent to finance treatment for such diseases in India, Kenya, Turkey and elsewhere.

“The government was investing efforts to deploy medical specialists in newly built district and regional hospitals to further bring quality services closer to people,” he said.

In her remarks, Dr Homeida hailed Zanzibar for its achievements in the health sector citing the construction of modern hospitals at the regional and district level, promising the government to cooperate with it to realise current objectives in the Isles health sector.

Dr Homeida dwelt on the Zanzibar tourism sector, noting the various opportunities in the sector, with considerable likelihood of growth in tourism attractions including medical tourism in the near future, underlining that she has a dream of establishing the largest health college in the city of Dar es Salaam.

It would be patterned after the University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST) in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, she said, and another health sector training facility in Zanzibar.

That initiative will open up many opportunities and develop the health sector, with her presence in Zanzibar giving her new experience on opportunities for further success in promoting the health sector in the islands, especially for the new district hospitals, the visiting specialist affirmed.