AKU provides health education to Arusha residents

Arusha. The Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery (AKU)-Tanzania has provided health and climate change education including free testing services to various groups of Arusha Region residents.

The move aimed at enhancing faith and humanity among the students studying midwifery and nursing at AKU as well as preparing them to give back to the community what they have learned.

Speaking to The Citizen today, on June 29, 2024, a lecturer at AKU, Dr. Stewart Mbelwa, said the move is a normal procedure for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing and midwifery when they are about to graduate ahead of providing community services such as those ones.

Before the exercise, Dr Mbelwa stated that they had conducted an assessment and discovered mental health issues and general health problems resulting from climate change, prompting AKU to decide to intervene with the aim of helping the residents.

"In this year’s exercise, we have included three things: community health, mental health, and climate change," Dr. Mbelwa stated, explaining how those areas impact community health.

 “We went to the Ngaramtoni Juu market to provide health education on how the residents can prevent themselves from communicable and non-communicable diseases,” he said.

 “We conducted free health tests on the residents, including checking them up on weight, blood sugar, and blood pressure. Those found to have health challenges were referred to hospitals for further treatment, and those who needed counseling services were also provided with them,” added Dr Mbelwa.

According to Dr. Mbelwa, the exercise involved a team of 49 AKU students and two lecturers, including collaborating with AKU's Arusha campus.

“There has been a great response from the residents, including customers who came to the market for shopping and they used that opportunity to receive medical advice and provided with health, and free testing services. We started from early morning until 12 noon,” he said.

Dr. Mbelwa emphasized that climate change is largely related to the problem of mental health and other health cases.

He exemplified that during the past dry seasons some pastoralists lost their livestock due to lacking greener pastures and water, leading to their psychological distress.

"What we found out is that the pastoralists have a single water source--swamps--shared by wild animals, livestock, and humans, who also lack toilets," Dr. Mbelwa explained.

“During the dry seasons, the swamps dry up and pose challenges, but during the rainy seasons, they fill up. Since the pastoralists lack toilets, all the human waste is swept into the swamps, causing diseases,” said Dr Mbelwa.

Dr Mbelwa also mentioned that apart from providing the services in the city, they also did that in the village of Arkaria in the region.

A resident of Arusha, Mr Onesmo Mollel, expressed gratitude to AKU for reaching out to the residents in market areas and providing them with free health education and testing services.

"You know, some of us don't regularly check up on our health, but when opportunities like this come up, especially when you are in your workplace area, you need to take advantage to improve your health. We are very grateful to AKU," Mollel said.

One of the AKU students who participated in providing the services, Ms Glory Mwankenja, said, "We are here from hospital settings in order to assist the community in identifying the diseases troubling them as the aim is to get them tested and provide them with medical advice.

"Some people are afraid of going to hospital, but when you reach out to them, they feel at home and cooperate. As AKU, we have decided to engage with people and provide them with health education and get them undergo free tests," Ms Mwankenja explained.

"For us as students, this has been comforting because it has enabled us to understand the health conditions of the residents, their needs, and why some of them do not go for tests for non-communicable diseases," she added.